“Best wet session for a long time” and decent first day for Espargaro

Practice for the British Grand Prix began today at Silverstone, and all riders were obliged by the weather conditions to use the number 33 front tyre. Not much in the way of conclusions could be drawn, owing to the differing conditions in the morning and afternoon practice sessions. Ten minutes into the dry afternoon run, the rain began to fall again without making the track completely wet. It was an awkward situation for the MotoGP field, whose number was reduced by the absence of the injured Karel Abraham. Stoner, Spies and Bautista were the fastest riders of the day, the only ones to go round in the 2’04s.

Today was an occasion for prudence and hard work for the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders. With the track slippery, taking unnecessary risks was not an option with so much to do. Aleix Espargaró still enjoyed the wet morning session. He was able to find a clear direction on his second bike and placed sixteenth, eagerly awaiting Saturday’s further practice sessions.

16th Aleix Espargaró 2.09.379 (27 laps): “We rode in the rain this morning and tried out a lot of things and I felt comfortable whilst we continued to improve. That was my best wet session for a long time. The afternoon was a little stranger, as we completed some dry laps and then had spots of rain to contend with and a strong wind which, although it helped to dry the track, it also bothered us a bit during the session. We still have a second day of practice in which to try things out. It looks as if it will rain, so I only hope that it does so consistently, because patchy conditions make it harder to work.”

Source: Team Aspar Press Release