Terol takes away 8th fastest laptime from difficult first day at Estoril

Friday morning free practice returned to the Grand Prix schedule today with the 125cc class taking to the track first at 9:05am, although dark heavy clouds quickly turned to rain and saw the riders retire to their garages for the final ten minutes. The treacherous conditions, which continued in the afternoon, saw a host of riders crash, including Bancaja Aspar man Bradley Smith, although the Briton’s pace this morning was enough to leave him with the fastest time of the day.

Nico Terol was the only one of the title aspirants to avoid a crash as he gradually adapted to the conditions. He was also one of the only riders to improve his lap time in the afternoon, when he was third fastest in the wet conditions with a lap that leaves him eighth on the combined time sheets overnight.

8th Nico Terol 2.06.787 (24 laps): “I knew when I got up this morning that it was going to be a difficult day because this circuit is always very slippery in the wet. I am satisfied because in the afternoon session I managed to keep up a good rhythm and made constant improvements. We have improved the set-up a lot and got the bike turning better. We still need a little more in terms of grip but even so my feeling is good. We also had a little problem with the engine this afternoon but the mechanics have already looked at it and they know how to fix it for tomorrow.”

Source: Bancaja Aspar Team