Aleix Espargaro optimistic after qualifying seventh
There was a sense of someone important missing on Friday at the Dutch TT with World Champion Jorge Lorenzo out of action with a broken collarbone. Lorenzo had surgery in Barcelona overnight and is returning to Assen, although whether he can race is still not confirmed.
After a wet morning session the riders went into Q2 in the afternoon, with POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet both present and Márquez leading early on. Pedrosa took over at the top but then suffered a crash and did not go back out. Rossi, Bradl and Crutchlow all featured at the top, with the Briton eventually taking P1 for his first MotoGP pole. There is plenty of focus on the CRT class at Assen with those riders closer than ever to the top competitors ahead of Saturday’s race.
Following their great QP efforts the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet are in their best grid spots of the year, on the third row. They are looking forward to fighting with the factory prototypes in the race. Catalan rider Espargaró rode well on Friday and in Q2 worked gradually towards seventh place. Two places and a tenth of a second back De Puniet made it through to Q2 for the first time this year, by leading Q1.
Around a second off pole, both POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders are feeling great, in both wet and dry conditions. Both are looking forward to the race.
7th Aleix Espargaró 1.35.500:
“So far it has been a great weekend. Yesterday we were good in the wet and the dry. I had a feeling we could go well at this track but not this good! The flowing corner layout is useful for us here. It’s the first time that we are so close to the top factory bikes. The electronics package has also really improved which I’m happy about. I still feel we can improve some more in warm up. I want to fight with an official factory bike in the race and we know the conditions could be changeable in the race. We are optimistic, whatever the conditions.”
Source: Aspar Media
