Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet remain as the top CRT riders with the Catalan making it through to QP2 with a great performance and his French teammate reducing the deficit after making set-up improvements
Although it is still early days it looks like the new MotoGP qualifying session is already going down very well indeed. The final sessions before race day are divided into three parts, a half hour free practice, then there is a ten minute break and the riders outside the Friday FP top ten contest Q1 over 15 minutes. Then after another 10 minute break the Q2 session sees the top ten joined by the fastest two Q1 riders for a final 15 minutes showdown. The result is that the riders have to go for it right from the start and every minute of each frantic session is absolutely vital. Lorenzo was the most alert rider in this new format of qualifying and he achieved the first pole of the year. In addition to Lorenzo’s pole success there was a triumph for Espargaró who made it through as the only CRT rider to make it through to Q2.
After winning the CRT title last year and having had a great preseason Aleix Espargaró appears to be enjoying his role as the top CRT rider in MotoGP. The POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider seems to be untouchable at present, improving his times over each day in Qatar, leading Q1 and getting through to Q2 - which previously might have seemed imposible. He is 12th overall and it looks unlikely that any other CRT rider can challenge him as the top man. Indeed the only rider who appears capable of getting close to hi mis his teammate Randy De Puniet. After three days of work the Frenchman has finally found a solution to a front end issue and his performance is improving, with him now within half a second of Aleix.
12th Aleix Espargaró 1.57.064:
“Although we still have the most important part of the weekend to come, things are already going really well here. It’s crucial to start the season charged up, motivated and working hard. Myself and the team are so pleased and we want to make the most of this in the race. We had the new format of qualifying and it was great to get through to the second round. In addition to that we have a good race pace and with this good work under our belts we want to continue as top CRT. The new qualifying sessions were brilliant as you have to perform well from the word go, with less traffic on track, so it’s also great for the spectators.”
14th Randy De Puniet 1.57.551:
“Finally a day with some good news! Today we made a big step forward and I’m pleased because we’ve found some solutions to issues which were holding us back. I’ve also reduced the gap to Aleix, from over a second to five tenth, with the adjustments we’ve made especially to the front end. That gives me more confidence on the bike but I still need to try a few more things before the race in warm up, continuing on the same path as today. Aleix looks really strong here at this first GP but with today’s improvements maybe we can challenge him as top CRT.”
Power Electronics Aspar Press Release
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