Rabat just misses out on front row as Espargaro and Pons struggle to 7th and 21st
Tito Rabat just missed out on a front row start for the first round at the Circuit of the Americas and will start the Moto2 race from the second row on the grid. The rider from Barcelona has overcome the setup problems from the first three practice sessions as well as the ones from Qatar and was able to ride on another level, leading the qualifying in the first half of the session.
Pol Espargaró was on the way to Max Biaggi’s record of seven consecutive pole positions in the intermediate class, but saw his run stopped after getting five pole position watches. Polyccio will start from seventh after a qualifying session with a lot of technical problems. This seventh place is his worst qualifying position last year at Sachsenring where he start from 17th.
Axel Pons had problems with his gear change which was a big setback as he was on his way to improve his laptime by a second, but will now start the Austin Grand Prix from seventh row.
7. POL ESPARGARÓ, 2.11.838 “Seeing myself in the third row after five consecutive pole positions is a big disappointment. I’ve never felt comfortable with the bike during the practice, especially lacking confidence in the front. It’s impossible to get the bike into the corners as usual and open the gas wide to accelerate quickly. We had a bad practice and we have to be stronger in the warmup and the race to make amends. I’m sure we’ll be able to fix it and be able to fight for the win.”
4. TITO RABAT, 2.11.383 “I’m happy with the result, although at the last moment I missed out on a spot in the first row. Despite this we are not yet at 100% with the setup, especially at the front, and we will try to change this in the warmup. Tomorrow I hope to start well, stay with the front group and fight for the podium. The team is working really hard and together we can achieve what we set out to do.”
21. AXEL PONS, 2.13.094 “In the afternoon we had to solve the problems with the front which caused the crash in the morning, but other issues surfaces which resulted in a start from far behind on the grid. In the last lap I had three good partial laptimes, but in the fourth sector I accidentally got into neutral when switching down gears and I couldn’t improve my laptime. Tomorrow I hope to be better in the race then get close to the fight for points.”
Source: Pons Racing Press Release
