Mixed Luck In Mixed Conditions For Aspar’s Moto2 Squad

 In Moto2, News

The first day of the Grand Prix of Portugal was a less fortunate one for the Moto2 riders than it was for their contemporaries in 125 and MotoGP, who enjoyed two dry free practice sessions. The afternoon outing for the intermediate class was hit by rain showers that were only light but heavy enough to spoil the riders’ plans. Only sixteen Moto2 riders took to the track in the afternoon, with conditions not appropriate to draw any real conclusions on set-up.

In the MAPFRE Aspar box Julián Simón preferred not to ride this afternoon whilst his team-mate Xavi Forés opted to complete twelve valuable laps as he continues to get to grips with a circuit he barely knows. Simón finished up fifteenth on the time sheets but the Spaniard’s position in no way reflects his true potential, having lapped maongst the pacesetters throughout the majority of the morning session before struggling on a hard tyre. Forés was also some way down the timesheets as he grappled with the complexities of the Estoril layout and the rookie is hoping for better weather tomorrow as he looks to close the gap.

15th Julián Simón 1.43.155 (12 laps):
“This morning I had a good feeling with the bike. The position doesn’t look good but that’s circumstantial because of the fact we switched to a hard tyre at the end of the session and couldn’t improve our lap times. I was up there from the start this morning and our pace is good. The only thing that didn’t work was the hard tyre but it was important for us to rule it out. I think the Valencia test was good for us. Hopefully the weather stays good so we can continue to work on the set-up in the dry. If it rains we will have to just do our best to get a feeling for the wet conditions and get a good grid position for the race. It wasn’t really raining this afternoon but the track was too wet for slicks and too dry for wets so we preferred to stay in.”

32nd Xavi Forés 1.44.253 (29 laps):
“I spent the morning session getting used to the track because I hardly know it. My intention was to complete as many laps as possible and get behind some fast riders to get my lines. At the end the position is quite far down but I was on the same tyre all session and I made gradual improvements, which is another positive. It was a shame about the rain this afternoon because I would have liked to work more on learning the track, especially T4, and tried new things. We didn’t go too badly in the wet apart from a little setback with the front tyre. We’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow but I’d like to get more experience in the dry because I’m sure it won’t rain on Sunday.”

Source; Aspar Media

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