Aleix Espargaro continues CRT dominance, qualifies 9th in Japan
After a day and a half spent whiling away the time in the paddock the MotoGP riders finally got the opportunity to take to the track this afternoon for a 75-minute qualifying practice.
Rossi, Márquez, Hayden and Pedrosa all staked their claim for pole position on a damp but drying track, with Jorge Lorenzo building his speed towards the end of the session to secure front spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race, when he will try to prevent Marquez from wrapping up the championship.
Aleix Espargaró knows what it is like to celebrate a title after being crowned CRT Champion for the second straight season last week in Australia but the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar showed that he has no plans to take his foot off the gas this weekend as he again dominated the CRT field.
The Spanish rider qualified in an excellent ninth place overall, securing a third row start for the Grand Prix of Japan.
9th Aleix Espargaró 1.55.719 (27 laps):
“We have had bad weather ever since we arrived in Japan and it has been a strange few days. We had to go out and qualify this afternoon without any prior track time so it was a new experience. We had to get confident in the wet conditions before pushing for a fast lap and I had fun – I think it’s a great result. I am hoping for dry weather tomorrow even though we would be starting from zero and we will have to adapt quickly to the conditions. We have only two races left in 2013 and I am determined to keep our good form going to the end.”
Source: Aspar Media