Aleix Espargaró finishes free practice 11th – just 1.4s from P1

MotoGP riders are like superheroes. They crash, they fall, they get back up again. They do battle in all conditions and they keep fighting even when their bodies are bashed and bruised. Fatigue is never an excuse and the riders were giving it all for a third weekend in succession today at Silverstone.

Marquez was quicker in the morning and Lorenzo went fastest in the afternoon, sending a message to his rival that the title fight will not be easy. Once again the 3 form riders – Márquez, Pedrosa and Lorenzo – are a step ahead of the rest. The best time of the day was a new circuit record of 2.02.888, not quite as fast as the 2.02.020 pole record. But that record could well fall tomorrow too.

Last Sunday was a productive day at Brno for the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar team and today they were back on track experiencing further success. Aleix Espargaró continues to write new rules. At a long track which might not have been favourable against the prototypes he was soon up as high as seventh early in the morning session and then ninth. Overall he concluded the day 11th, just 1.4s off Lorenzo.

11th Aleix Espargaró 2.04.145 (27 laps):
“I’m happy with how it’s gone on this first day. I was actually surprised by our performance as I thought we could be further behind at such a long track. The pace was good and we’re only 1.4s off P1. I’m satisfied that we did a good job. I know the soft tyre is good at two laps and I had expected to drop the time a bit more with it, but it didn’t work out, but I’m still happy with today. The base setting is good and we can keep working in the same direction.”

Source: Aspar Media