Hard-working Espargaro starts from 15th on Qatar grid
The first qualifying practice of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship took place late this evening at the Losail Circuit, where Cal Crutchlow and Ben Spies made the early running only to be overcome by the strength of title favourites Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. Lorenzo took the first pole of the season in 1’54.634 but it promises to be a close battle between the pair tomorrow night, whilst Crutchlow and Spies will both have their eye on the podium.
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar pair Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaró are both looking forward to start racing after a long preseason and some good results in practice here this weekend. The Frenchman and the Spaniard have worked hard on their machines, in particular in the search for more front-end feel, with De Puniet qualifying fourteenth fastest despite a fast crash in turn thirteen with twenty minutes of the session remaining and Aleix just one position behind him on tomorrow’s grid.
14th Randy De Puniet 1.58.266 (18 laps):
“Qualifying actually went pretty well, I wasn’t put off by my crash yesterday and felt comfortable on the bike. I was the top CRT bike in the early part of the session but another crash spoiled that. It was a strange one because I lost the front when I wasn’t braking or accelerating so that gives us a bit to think about. We have to put it behind us as quickly as possible and make sure we are focused on the race tomorrow so we’ll look at the data tonight and prepare as best we can.”
15th Aleix Espargaró 1.58.520 (21 laps):
“Looking at the first session compared to tonight the lap times have come down a lot and that gives us hope. I am not completely happy with the way qualifying went but overall it has been a good weekend so far and we have improved the bike in several areas although we still have work to do to reduce the chatter. It is rebounding a lot at full lean and if I try to pick the bike up too early it wants to crash. Apart from that I am happy with the performance of the ART.”
Source: Aspar Media
