It was 6.00 p.m., local time, when the second evening of timed practice sessions got underway, though rain had briefly threatened to delay the proceedings. Instead, it was a strong wind that accompanied the entire session, affecting the state of the circuit, which was made particularly slippery by a thin layer of sand.
Ben’s feeling with the bike continued to improve, enabling him to lower his best time by 1.2 seconds compared to yesterday, despite his shoulder still not being 100% fit.
Ben Spies - Ignite Pramac Racing Team
“I’m okay, even though tonight’s session didn’t go exactly the way we wanted. We tried something a little bit different before our practice, and it didn’t work out. We had to make a change during the session, which cost me some time. We know we missed about 50% of testing due to my injury and learning a new bike, so realistically, our testing is starting now. It was the first time that we pushed the bike hard, and I’m learning things about it. We’re changing stuff and getting used to it, but we need more time. The feeling with the bike is getting better every time out.”
Andrea’s feeling with the bike continued to improve, enabling him to lower his best time by 1.2 seconds compared to yesterday, despite his shoulder still not being 100% fit.
Some small changes were made to Andrea’s bike since last night, enabling him to better understand the direction to follow. Although the Italian suffered from pain in his forearm, this evening’s pair of practice sessions provided an opportunity for him to gain experience with the bike on this challenging track, and his time improved by over 1.3 seconds compared to yesterday.
Andrea Iannone - Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
“Fortunately, my right forearm didn’t hurt as much during FP3, as the pain had forced me to return to the garage on the fourth lap of tonight’s first session. I wasn’t able to control the bike, and I lacked strength. Nonetheless, we were able to make some small changes to the bike, and they allowed me to improve quite a bit and to give a clearer idea of the direction to take. I still don’t have much reference on this track, so I definitely need to do more laps.”
Pramac Racing Press Release
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