Best practice day of the season for Terol at one of his favourite tracks
The Moto2 riders were welcomed back from their summer break by a dirty track at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, as they joined the MotoGP and Moto3 riders in taking on the tricky surface. The intermediate class was nonetheless faster than last year, breaking the 1’44.329 circuit record with a best time of 1’43.575. The first session was a duel between Espargaró and Márquez, but the second opened up slightly and the difference between the duo and the rest of the field was reduced. Nonetheless, the two series leaders were the fastest riders of the day.
Indianapolis is one MAPFRE Aspar rider Nico Terol’s favourites, and he has won three times at the circuit. Today he opened proceedings with the eighth quickest time, further improving in the afternoon to go fifth fastest. The Spaniard is continuously improving onboard his Moto2 bike, and is looking good stateside.
Alongside him in the MAPFRE Aspar garage, Jordi Torres returns this weekend. The Spanish rider has come back to the team with which he rode at select rounds in 2011, and resumed work in the Moto2 class with caution. His early feeling onboard the Suter was positive and he placed 27th at the end of day one.
5th Nico Terol 1.44.727 (39 laps): “I am happy to be riding again at this track, because I love it. We are coming into this race after a long break, but I can still remember the race in Italy that went so well in the practice sessions –if not the race. I learnt a lot at that Grand Prix and I took some very useful information away from it. I have started well at Indianapolis and am feeling very good. I took the fifth best time of the day, although I am maybe lacking a little pace. At the end of the second session I came up to a lot of traffic. I am satisfied with our work and with how things went today, and hope to continue like this tomorrow. I am slowly gaining experience in this class and feeling better on the bike. I think I am on the right track, but you can’t relax for a minute in this class.”
27th Jordi Torres 1.47.257 (37 laps): “Today was a day of adaptation, of getting back into the swing of things with the bike. I wanted to take things slowly today, to get a feel for the bike and the tyres. The important thing is to be steady and understand what we are doing. I really liked coming back into the team and they gave me a great welcome. I also liked riding at Indianapolis again. I used today to adapt to the bike, but we are looking for a setting that will allow me to go fast. We still have a lot to learn, but the team are helping me a lot to feel comfortable on the bike.”
Source: Aspar Team Press Release
