Another determined ride for Tech3’s Pol Espargaro at Qatar on day 2
Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro continued their relentless work today at the Losail Circuit, Qatar, on the second day of the last pre-season test. Both riders completed a vast quantity of laps in their preparation for the season’s opening MotoGP race on the 23rd of March.
The weather conditions were once again perfect. The track’s grip levels were not ideal at the beginning of the day and were initially worse than yesterday, but as the day progressed, the traction improved.
Reigning Moto2 World Champion, Pol Espargaro completed another focused day of testing at the Losail circuit as his confidence continues to grow.
The young Spaniard undertook a race simulation today to prepare him for the start of his inaugural and forthcoming, MotoGP season. This simulation was the first one he had completed, which included the warm up lap, start and full distance in order to analyse fuel consumption and to also assess his physical condition.
He amassed a monumental 66 laps in total, today at the Losail Circuit, more than any other MotoGP rider. Espargaro completed the session in 5th place, with a best time of 1:55.876.
The final testing session begins tomorrow at 16:00 until 23:00 at the Losail Circuit, Qatar (local time – GMT +3).
Pol Espargaro – 1:55.876 – 5th:
“I’m pleased that I got my first ever MotoGP race simulation under my belt today, even if I was a little bit tired at the end of the run, but I am satisfied with performance of the bike. Of course we still have a margin to improve. It was tricky to ride with the used tyre, and we are still working towards this. When the grip fades slightly, it becomes a bit harder especially with the traction control, so I must learn how to deal with it, but I suppose it’s all about experience. Moreover it is always different to do a race distance without any pressure and no riders in front or behind me. That makes it really hard to keep the concentration, but we did it so and it gives us a good reference point also regarding the fuel consumption. We have to keep an eye on this, and that makes me happy for today. For tomorrow there are still things to test. For example, I want to try and push for a fast lap, which we haven’t done yet. We tried this at the beginning of the session, but due to the conditions we could not improve as much as we wanted but it wasn’t the main aim of today.”
Source: Tech3 Communications