Qualifying practice for the Czech Republic Grand Prix started out with crashes for Gino Rea, Elena Rosell, Andrea Iannone and Axel Pons but it finished with a new pole position record for Pol Espargaró, who emerged at the head of an intense battle with Thomas Lüthi and Scott Redding.
For Nico Terol there was little such drama as the MAPFRE Aspar rider continued with his quiet but consistent adaptation to the Moto2 class, recording his best qualifying session of the season for the second week in succession. Nico worked hard throughout to overcome front-end problems with his bike and a time of 2'03.128 on his eighteenth lap proved enough for eighth place on tomorrow's grid. Jordi Torres also impressed today, the Spaniard making significant progress of his own to qualify thirteenth fastest for only his second race since returning to the Moto2 World Championship with the MAPFRE Aspar Team.
8th Nico Terol 2.03.128 (18 laps): “We have had three good weekends now making constant progress and moving steadily up the order. I like the track but we've had more issues here than we expected, with some front chatter that makes it particularly hard to ride. I tried to adapt and even though I struggled at the start we put the soft tyre in at the end and I was able to set a good lap. I was still some way back on the time sheets but on my last lap I got behind Iannone and was able to follow him in some areas and lower my time. I am really happy because this is my best grid so far and tomorrow I'm going to fight right to the end – hopefully in the lead group.”
13th Jordi Torres 2.03.249 (17 laps): “All the work we did in Indianapolis to adapt to the bike has paid off here and over the course of the weekend we have made continued progress and adapted the bike a little bit to my style too. The team are helping a lot and working really hard and we are taking constant steps forward. This circuit has a lot of hard braking areas and I feel comfortable here. Unfortunately I lose a bit on the straight because of my weight but I am pleased with my performance and especially with the bike. I consider myself more of a racer than a one lap wonder so hopefully we can get a good start tomorrow, stay with the group and finish in the points.”
Mapfre Aspar Press Release
You can give your opinion on our Facebook page here
Get the latest update on our Twitter page here
