The Czech Republic Grand Prix got underway at the Brno circuit today with some new names on the entry list, Martin Bauer competing as a wildcard and Michele Pirro stepping in to replace the unfortunate Ben Spies. This is traditionally known as a 'Yamaha circuit' and that proved to be the case for much of the day as Jorge Lorenzo dominated the timesheets, only to be denied the best lap time of the day by a late effort from Honda's Stefan Bradl that was 0.038 seconds quicker than the World Champion.
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Aleix Espargaró predicted that this would be a difficult circuit for him and his ART package but the Spaniard was a mere 1.7 seconds shy of Bradl's pace today, despite losing time this morning due to an electronic problem. Aleix was twelfth fastest today but is hopeful of making up a couple of positions in tomorrow morning's third free practice, which would qualify him directly to Q2. Randy De Puniet was twentieth fastest today but the Frenchman was smiling again after his troubles at Indianapolis last weekend. After finding solutions to the traction control issues he was having in America, De Puniet is now looking forward to stepping up his pace tomorrow.
12th Aleix Espargaró 1.58.217 (26 laps):
“We had some problems with the electronics this morning that stopped us from completing as many laps as we would have liked but I am happy because the team did a great job to solve them and the response of the bike was much improved in the afternoon. We are still a long way off Q2 pace but to lap 1.7 seconds off the pace of the best time at such a fast circuit is a good start for us. The results haven't been as spectacular in the last few races as they were in the early stages of the season but our motivation to remain as the reference point in CRT could not be higher. We have to stay focused and do our jobs right if we want to continue closing the gap to the prototypes.”
“We had some problems with the electronics this morning that stopped us from completing as many laps as we would have liked but I am happy because the team did a great job to solve them and the response of the bike was much improved in the afternoon. We are still a long way off Q2 pace but to lap 1.7 seconds off the pace of the best time at such a fast circuit is a good start for us. The results haven't been as spectacular in the last few races as they were in the early stages of the season but our motivation to remain as the reference point in CRT could not be higher. We have to stay focused and do our jobs right if we want to continue closing the gap to the prototypes.”
20th Randy De Puniet 1.59.799 (31 laps):
“Today we continued working to improve the traction control system after all the headaches it has given us lately. We worked with both bikes today and it seems like the second one was a little better. We have a few vibrations to iron out at this track and worked with some different tyre compounds to that end today. In the afternoon my feeling with the bike improved a lot and we'll hopefully be able to keep working in the same direction tomorrow.”
“Today we continued working to improve the traction control system after all the headaches it has given us lately. We worked with both bikes today and it seems like the second one was a little better. We have a few vibrations to iron out at this track and worked with some different tyre compounds to that end today. In the afternoon my feeling with the bike improved a lot and we'll hopefully be able to keep working in the same direction tomorrow.”
Power Electronic Aspar Press Release
