Cautious start from Torres & Terol in tricky conditions at Assen

The Moto2 riders were not as lucky with the conditions at Assen as their colleagues in Moto3 and MotoGP. In the morning they were able to ride in the dry, but in the afternoon they were forced to adapt to the wet as rain fell on the Dutch track.

Pol Espargarò and Scott Redding, the leading two in the Moto2 standings, were the fastest in the opening session and the combined timesheet for the day. In the afternoon session, Mattia Pasini took the top time in the wet from his last lap –although crashes were more frequent than fast times.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Jordi Torres debuted at the Assen circuit today, but did not do so unprepared. On Tuesday and Wednesday he had done a lot of work viewing telemetry and video of past races, in order to become as familiar as possible with the track. In the morning he was twelfth and had a great feeling with his bike, and in the afternoon used prudence to avoid surprises in the rain. Making no big setup changes, the Spaniard was pleased with his first impressions of Assen.

Nico Terol suffered, as in Catalonia, with excessive sliding on the rear of his bike. He set about a change of strategy with his mechanics in the afternoon, but rain would not let him implement the modifications. After finishing the day in twenty-first position, he expects better from practice and qualifying tomorrow.

12th Jordi Torres 1.40.231 (43 laps):
“Overall, the day was positive. Over the two previous days I worked hard, doing laps of the track, studying the telemetry and watching many videos ahead of my first ride at Assen. The result has been good. This morning, in the dry, I adapted fairly quickly to the track. In the afternoon, with the track completely wet, I also felt very comfortable. However, when the track was drying out, and was neither dry nor wet, it was very slippery. I preferred to get a feel for things, but without taking risks. The findings of today, both in dry and wet conditions, have been optimal, and I like the circuit -especially since it has many flowing corners, which I like a lot. On a technical level we have changed virtually nothing, as we preferred to go out with the setup from the last race, put in many laps and discover some of the secrets of this track.”

21st Nico Terol 1.40.517 (43 laps):
“This first day was hard. In the morning, in the dry, I did not have the feeling I would have liked. The situation from Barcelona was repeated, so I did not feel comfortable. We hit rock bottom, so for the afternoon we changed the approach and obtained a better feeling with the bike. I saw upon analysing with my mechanics where we can improve and in what areas I lack pace. Tomorrow we will work to get more confidence and go faster in the sectors that cost us time today. I’m not happy with the result, but I prefer that we discover the way to go for the rest of the weekend today. Returning to the setup we had in Mugello, we must make a bike that allows me to turn in more, so that I can prepare better for the corner exits.”

Source: Aspar Media