Elias happy with progress, Terol expecting more from Moto2 debut

With a reduced field of 33 riders the opening free practice sessions of the new Moto2 season tonight gave us a glimpse of what promises to be a less chaotic but equally competitive season in the intermediate class. The likes of Luthi, Corti and Espargaró, who set the pace in preseason testing at Jerez two weeks ago, look to be the men to beat again here after the early running over two sessions at Losail, with a further free practice due to take place tomorrow night.

The MAPFRE Aspar Team put hard work at the top of their agenda tonight, with Toni Elías and Nico Terol steadily adapting to the lack of grip and ruling out certain set-up combinations. The Spanish pair made some progress in the opening practice but it was in the second session that they enjoyed the most improvement – in particular the final couple of laps – to finish the evening tenth and 22nd respectively on the early time sheets.

10th Toni Elías 2.01.826 (28 laps): “We started out with some problems in the first session that we had to resolve in the second session, costing us time, but we managed to make some big improvements at the end and found a good pace. We are still not ready but I am happy with our progress and I hope we can keep it going in the same direction. We are losing most time in the fast corners so that will be our main point of focus tomorrow. Today we worked on the chassis and suspension in order to improve grip, because as you expect here there is always a lot of sand on the track on the first day.”

22nd Nico Terol 2.02.678 (32 laps): “This is a circuit I like so to be honest I was expecting to have a better feel for the bike in the first session but it is completely different to what I am used to, even though I know the track perfectly. I finished the day on a high, finding more than a second in the final session, so that gives me motivation for tomorrow. I am struggling more than I expected because this was a great circuit for me on the 125 but we are working in the right way and we have to stay calm. I need to find more confidence with the front because it is moving around a lot and that makes it hard to turn.”

Source: Aspar Team