Jordi Torres Gets To Grips With Motegi

The Moto2 riders made such a strong start to the Grand Prix of Japan today that the pace was already inside last year’s pole record. The only surprise was that it wasn’t regular pacesetters Stefan Bradl or Marc Márquez who dominated, with Bradley Smith clocking the fastest time this morning and Thomas Luthi in the afternoon. However, with twenty riders all lapping within just over a second there could be plenty more surprises over the remainder of the weekend.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Jordi Torres made probably his best start to a Grand Prix so far, the Spaniard quickly getting to grips with the Motegi layout despite running into the gravel with ten minutes remaining of this morning’s opening free practice. In the afternoon Jordi continued working hard and eventually lapped just over a second outside the fastest time, finishing nineteenth overall but confident of making major progress tomorrow, when his goal is to improve in the third and fourth sectors and qualify in the top fifteen.

19th Jordi Torres 1.54.180 (42 laps):
“I felt comfortable here from the very first minute. It is a really cool track with lots of hard braking and even though I took things steadily today the team and I were working really hard to get to know the track as well as we could. We made a good start this morning and established a good base for the afternoon. We worked on the hard tyre which didn’t really suit my riding style so we have some changes to make tomorrow. We need to get the bike turning better and I also need to get it stopped in a shorter distance. I am satisfied with how the day has gone though – we knew how we had to work for me to get on the pace quickly – although the hard part is pushing on from here and finding the limit.”

Source: Aspar Media