Pol Espargaró sets the fastest time on the first day in Sepang.

Pol Espargaró has been the fastest in combination with Tito Rabat in 4th place and Axel Pons in 22nd. Rain prevented an improvement in the second session after Pol Espargaró went fastest in the first practice session in Sepang, Malaysia. The rider from team Tuenti Móvil HP 40 was able to put in a 2.08.015, two tenths quicker than his closest rival. Tito Rabat, 3rd in Montegi last weekend, has again proven to be very competitive and went 4th fastest. Axel Pons has been fighting grip problems in the dry but could improve in the wet in the afternoon to get 22nd position.

Pol Espargaró
It’s been a complicated day and the weather conditions have given us some extra work with regards to tyre choices. In the morning I set the best time, but I wasn’t entirely happy on the bike because I’m having problems, especially in the third sector. In the afternoon in the rain I liked it more than in previous wet sessions, but there’s still room for improvement. The title has practically been decided in Márquez’ favour but I will still go out on track every time and do my best to delay his win.

Tito Rabat
In the dry we went really well and again we could be at level with the best riders. But it’s clear that we have to tweak things a bit more to keep progressing. In the wet I’m still losing much time, and in these conditions there’s no other choice then to get my head down and do the best I can.

Axel Pons
In the morning with a dry track, the bike was sliding a lot and was very unmanageable. But I think we solved this problem because in the first few minutes of this afternoon’s session the feeling was a lot better. With the track completely wet we couldn’t go fast and I think we have to work hard if the forecast for Sunday says rain. Tomorrow we have to work a lot with the tyres because it looks like in the race we have to use one that we don’t normally put on my bike.

Source: Pons Racing