Espargaró among the fastest while teammates Rabat and Pons struggle at Estoril

Pol Espargaró posted the fifth-fastest laptime of the first day of practice at the Estoril circuit, scene of the Portuguese Grand Prix, after being the fastest rider in the morning session and confirming his excellent form after his two podiums, including victory at Jerez, in the first two races of the 2012 season.

Less fortunate were teammates Tito Rabat and Axel Pons, both with setup problems and finishing the first day in Portugual very far behind. Both have a lot of setup work still to do, but they stay optimistic, because the gap to the front is still completely manageable.

5. POL ESPARGARÓ, 1.42.365
“We weren’t close in the final run on track, because we put on a front tyre which didn’t give me any confidence and kept me from improving the laptime. But as every cloud has a silver lining, the upside is that we know which tyres to use in the race. In the morning we were the fastest and expected to stay there in the afternoon and although we have a very good pace, the position is not what we expected. At other times a fifth place would be good, but today I am not content with that I want much more. Tomorrow we’ll continue working, we hope the weather will be as good as today and then we’ll search for the best setting for the race and the best place on the grid as possible.”

22. TITO RABAT, 1.43.436
“No doubt a difficult day, at no moment was I in front and I’ve battled constantly and without luck with the front tyre of the bike. We finished this first day of practice in a very low position, but 1.6 seconds behind the first is not alarming. We will work hard with the team and I am conviced that we can do a big jump forward when we have the right setting. I’ve always liked this track and surely for the rest of the weekend things will go better.”

24. AXEL PONS, 1.43.938
“I’m not happy with how this first day of practice went, especially in terms of my position because we are quite far behind. In terms of pace and feeling I’m confident and I think that I could have done much better if we were closer in the fourth sector, a very quick parabolica to the right and then getting the speed on the straight. This part of the track has been a little damp and I didn’t find a good line, but I’m sure that when we work on the setting everything will go much better.”

Source: Pons Racing