Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro quickest CRT qualifier in Sepang

After dominating free practice at Sepang Dani Pedrosa was the clear favourite for pole position when qualifying practice got underway this afternoon but Jorge Lorenzo had other ideas, producing a late charge to dislodge his fellow Spaniard from the top of the time sheets. Andrea Dovizioso also produced the goods at the end of the session to deny Casey Stoner a front row start but nobody could match the pace of Lorenzo, who produced a new pole record of 2’00.334.

The bumpy track surface here was the bane of practice for most of the riders and the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team were no exception, although it didn’t stop them from continuing their dominance of the new CRT category. Aleix Espargaró qualified as the fastest CRT in a time of 2’02.842, just 2.5 seconds off pole in twelfth place. His team-mate Randy De Puniet was less satisfied with his performance despite lining up just one place behind in thirteenth.

12th Aleix Espargaró 2.02.842 (19 laps):
“I am really happy with the result today. We put the new engine in this morning and it made quite a big difference but we have had a lot of chatter this weekend and I think that’s the case for most riders. The strong point of our bike is in corner entry but with so much chatter we’re losing ground in this aspect to the prototypes. We have done a great job and the lap times are good despite the two long straights here, where we also lose out a lot to the prototypes. I have a decent advantage over my team-mate, probably the biggest we have had for a while. I lapped alone and set a good pace for several laps so we’re in good shape for the race. It will be very tough because of the heat so we have to be mentally prepared for that.”

Source; Aspar Media