Terol Takes Charge In Friday Practice At Sachsenring
The first day of practice for the 125cc riders at Sachsenring took place in cool conditions, with just 15°C in the morning and only 21°C in the afternoon. Strong winds also made life difficult for the smallest bikes in the championship and with a notoriously abrasive track surface the lap times were relatively slow. Experience seemingly proved crucial as Nico Terol, Hector Faubel and Sergio Gadea set the pace in the two sessions, with the BANKIA Aspar Team pair ending the day on top.
Not happy with returning from injury to take victory last time out at Mugello BANKIA Aspar man Nico Terol is determined to continue his good form here even though he is still no completely recovered. His main rival so far comes from directly across the garage, with Faubel clocking three quick laps in the afternoon to sit briefly at the top of the timesheets before Terol posted a time just 0.007 seconds faster three laps from the end. Luck was not on the side of the third BANKIA Aspar rider Adrián Martín, who crashed with five minutes remaining of the afternoon session and damaged the little finger on his right hand. The youngster will wait until tomorrow to assess his fitness.
1st Nico Terol 1.28.483 (38 laps):
“Things have gone brilliantly today. This track is more physical than Mugello so my hand got quite tired but even so the feeling is good and I can grip the bars okay. The only problem is the bumps and when the bike makes any kind of strange movement. The finger is barely a problem at all now, it is the wrist. I did a lot of laps and tried to find a rhythm in the morning and afternoon sessions. The times are close here but I know we will improve tomorrow and I am satisfied with how we have started, especially considering I didn’t race here last year. The cold and wind have made life difficult and the lap times slower but we will all improve tomorrow.”
2nd Héctor Faubel 1.28.490 (41 laps):
“I am happy with the result, how close we are to the top and the way I feel on the bike. I think this circuit suits us and we were able to ride well even though the times are some way off the record. I was improving my best time on the last lap but I got held up by another rider. It is only free practice and we know where we are now. The bike feels great and I am sure we can be back up there again tomorrow.”
14th Adrián Martín 1.29.670 (28 laps):
“I felt very comfortable on the bike today and I was adapting comfortably to the Sachsenring circuit. The crash was a shame – I tried to brake too late and had to run wide to avoid hitting Salom. The front folded and I got my hand stuck underneath, only for a short time but at high speed. I have quite a big abrasion on the little finger so I am on painkillers at the moment and we’ll have to wait for tomorrow and see how I am on the bike. The main priority at the moment is to make sure it doesn’t get infected.”
Source: Aspar Media
