Espargaro “really happy” with bike setup despite missing out on top CRT qualifying

After a crash-strewn qualifying practice for the Moto3 class, MotoGP followed suit this afternoon and the session was also interrupted twice by the red flag. Casey Stoner’s pole challenge was ended ten minutes into the session by a nasty highside, leaving his team-mate Dani Pedrosa to take pole. Turns 13, 14 and 16 were the worst, with Spies and Hayden also crashing heavily to add to that of Hector Barberá yesterday. With Stoner’s participation in the balance tomorrow the overnight favourite will be Pedrosa, the pair having dominated the weekend so far. The Spaniard broke the pole record by almost a second today but he will surely be challenged by series leader Jorge Lorenzo from second on the grid.

It was a good day for the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team and all that remains to be decided for tomorrow is tyre choice. Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaró are delighted with their progress so far, the Frenchman today lapping just 1.6 seconds off Pedrosa’s pole time to qualify tenth and equal his best grid position of the season from the Spanish Grand Prix. Just three tenths and two grid positions behind him is his team-mate Aleix Espargaró, who hopes to put up a strong challenge in the fight for the top CRT position in tomorrow’s race.

12th Aleix Espargaró 1.40.803 (21 laps): “I’m really happy – even more so than when I have qualified as the top CRT in the past. I really enjoyed myself on the bike and I needed it after such a strange weekend at Laguna Seca. We have done a great job and the bike is working perfectly. I know we need to put a better lap together if we want to be close to Randy, but I am not concerned about that right now. The important thing is that the bike set-up is great and we have found something that works at a difficult circuit. I’m looking forward to the race and the objective is to be fighting with my team-mate to be the top CRT.”

Source: Aspar Team Press Release