Double setback for Espargaro with two crashes on first day
The ASPAR POWER ELECTRONICS TEAM continued their dominance of the CRT era on the opening day of the fourth round of the season at Le Mans, where Randy de Puniet was the fastest rider on the new machines. His teammate Aleix Espargaró had to cope with the double setback of two crashes, one in each of today’s two free practice sessions, that saw him head to the Clinica Mobile with a headache at the end of the afternoon – although that may have come about more through his frustration than the impact of the fall.
Aleix hit the ground hard this morning when his rear wheel locked under braking, potentially due to a problem with the engine braking system, before losing the front in what he admitted was a loss of concentration this afternoon.
17th Aleix Espargaró (1.37.585, 32 laps): “We have started out on the wrong foot here, with a crash this morning that left me with a sore head and that contributed to me losing my concentration this afternoon. In the end I crashed again and now I need to get some rest and some good sleep tonight to recover. We made a mistake this morning by running the harder tyre when the track was still cold and it’s a shame because other than the two crashes I was riding well and could have improved my laptimes. If it is dry tomorrow I should be close, because with the new front tyre I’m always quicker.”
Source: Aspar Team