Espargaró to start from second row at Estoril, Rabat and Pons still struggling
The three riders of Team Pons HP 40 Tuenti considerably improved their laptimes on the second day of practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril, starting tomorrow’s race from second row (Pol Espargaró), sixth row (Tito Rabat) and eighth row on the grid (Axel Pons).
Pol Espargaró, currently second in the Moto2 championship and four points behind the leader, fought until the end of qualifying to secure a spot on the front row, but despite showing an excellent race pace he couldn’t string together a perfect lap to be among the first three, finishing in fifth position. Tito Rabat, still having problems with the front, improved a lot and moved up to 16th position although still far from what he’s aiming for. Axel Pons was very consistent, moreso than any of the riders in front of him, but is lacking one quick lap to get close to the points-scoring positions for tomorrow.
Different to the usual schedule, the Moto2 race will open proceedings tomorrow, starting at 11.20 local time.
5. POL ESPARGARÓ, 1.41.424
“It’s been a very tough qualifying and a small setback on the front prevented us from getting on the front row of the grid, despite improving the laptime from yesterday by almost a second. The good news is that we have a great race pace and in normal conditions we should be able to fight for the podium and even the victory. I’m confident and in high spirits, considering that I never started a season with two consecutive podium finishes, but we have to work to improve the feeling with the front and being able to move the bike easily in the corners. Tomorrow we’ll try to improve in the warmup and return to be competitive in the race like in Qatar and Jerez.”
16. TITO RABAT, 1.41.954
“I still have no confidence in the front and I can’t brake as hard as is necessary at this circuit. We’ve improved compared to the first day, going one and a half seconds faster, but in the warmup we have to keep pushing to be more competitive in the race. In the IRTA tests I already had similar problems and we’ve been able to fix them, so I’m convinced that my technicians can again give me a setting which allows me to compete with the best in the race. This time I’ll have to risk something at the start, but I did that other times in Moto2 and I’ll try again with all motivation.”
23. AXEL PONS, 1.42.527
“I have good pace, but I failed to find a good rider to hang on to be half a dozen positions further up. In front of me are several riders who are only fast for one lap, so I’ll have to make a good start to try and get into the group fighting for points. I improved a lot compared to yesterday, although not enough to get within the top twenty.”
Source: Pons Racing
