Terol just misses out on front row start for Jerez race

The intense heat of the Circuito de Jerez showed no sign of abating on day two in Southenr Spain, as the 125cc riders had to cope with the temperatures and a tough field in search of pole position in the lower cylinder class. Near-record times were set in the morning practice session, and the qualifying run in the afternoon saw an explosion of pace and competitiveness. Spanish riders were, of course, in the mix, with some crazy laps towards the end of the run. The key for tomorrow’s race will be a race pace around the 1’47 mark, something achieved by only an elite seven riders on Saturday afternoon.

Two of those seven are Bancaja Aspar riders Nico Terol and Bradley Smith. The former has been on the pace from the start of the weekend, with five laps in the 1’47 range. The latter because he has finally started to regain the good feeling that won him the 2009 version of the Spanish Grand Prix. Terol will fight for the win in front of his home fans tomorrow morning, with the intention of making it two victories from as many races in 2010. Smith will try to keep up and will assess his own chances of glory after some adjustments in the pre-race warm up at the Circuito de Jerez.

5th Nico Terol 1.47.443 (17 laps): “I am very happy; we have made a big step forward in the fine tuning compared with yesterday. We wanted to try putting more weight on the front, and I didn’t feel comfortable with it. Since the morning I have found a bit more pace –it has been a positive day. The qualifying session was tough because of the heat, and my goal was the front row. I didn’t get it because I didn’t have that crazy lap in me like the other riders had. However, I’m satisfied with my pace, which is important because of the length of the race tomorrow. Here in Jerez I have an extra motivation, like all the Spaniards, so I’ll be giving it my all for the duration. The tyres get a beating in this race, so it will be important to preserve them in order to arrive at the end with a shot.”