Torres shines on Tech3 Racing debut with excellent 11th place in qualifying

Spanish rider Jordi Torres came within 0.124s of a fantastic top 10 Moto2 qualifying result in baking hot conditions this afternoon ahead of the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.

Torres has expertly adapted to the Tech 3 Racing Team’s Mistral 610 machine, despite only having a brief chance to familiarise himself with the French designed and built Moto2 machine in testing at the Ales track earlier this week.

Torres put his extensive knowledge of the technically challenging Catalunya circuit to good use this afternoon in a qualifyi ng session that took place in sweltering temperatures that nudged over the 30 degrees mark.

A best lap of 1.47.239 put Torres in 11th position on the grid and he was only 0.124s behind experienced Alex de Angelis and less than 0.5s from the top five.

With the support of a large home crowd behind him tomorrow, Torres is confident he will be able to challenge for his first World Championship points in the 23-lap race.

Jordi Torres 11th 1.47.239 – 18 laps: “I am really happy to be so high up the grid and want to thank the Tech 3 Racing Team for doing an amazing job. They have really helped me adapt to the Mistral 610 quickly and be very close to the top five in my first weekend on the bike. It has not been an easy task because I am a bit heavier than Bradley and Xavier, so we had no reference to use from their data. But the bike has been working well and I could push with a lot of confidence. I have gone faster in every session and hope to do the same tomorrow in the race. I will be doing the best job I possibly can for Tech 3 Racing and it would be fantastic to finish in the points.”

Source: Team Tech3