There were several riders running off track in MotoGP practice at Losail on Friday evening due to tricky track conditions, with sand and dirt on the asphalt affecting the proceedings. The riders all had to run with caution. The new qualifying regulations are now in play and the top ten riders in free practice go straight into Q2 on Saturday. Márquez was fastest with just one thousandth of a second’s advantage over Lorenzo, tight margins make the difference. All the riders improved from day one but times are still way off circuit and pole records. Tomorrow will see the introduction of the new qualifying format with sessions divided into 15 minute sections, adding to the excitement.
Yesterday it was just a 1.1s gap and today it was just 1.3s which separated Aleix Espargaró from the top spot. He has started the year in great form and is ahead of the CRT field. He is getting closer to the leading factory pack even with the long Losail circuit taken into account. The POWER ELECTRONICS rider was able to improve bike set-up today despite a few front end issues caused by the track conditions, leaving him 13th overall. His teammate Randy De Puniet was affected by the wind and some rear tyre issues but he is not too disappointed and aims to improve on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s race.
13th Aleix Espargaró 1.57.420 (29 laps):
“The bike performance was better today, although there was some front end chatter which I guess is normal in these conditions. For the second consecutive day I felt really good on the bike and we’re close to the top riders on one of the longest and fastest tracks in MotoGP, so that gives us great motivation to work hard throughout the rest of the weekend. Being just 1.3s off is a great achievement and I’m very happy. We keep getting a bit better each day and we’re looking forward to the new qualifying format tomorrow. I aim to keep riding at this high level.”
16th Randy De Puniet 1.58.396 (30 laps):
“Things were a bit better today but we had some of the same problems as yesterday. Lack of rear end confidence means I’m losing speed on corner entry which affects my overall pace. The track conditions don’t help but they are the same for everyone, so we need imrovements however they come. Aleix is a second ahead so we need to bridge that gap. We’ve got tomorrow to come and we won’t stop working until we find the solutions we need.”
Power Electronics Aspar Press Release
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