Jordi Torres starts 12th, Nico Terol beset by set-up issues

The second round of the Moto2 World Championship promises to be another close affair at the front of the pack after the top three qualified inside three tenths of a second at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas today.

An intense battle for pole position during this afternoon’s qualifying practice saw Johann Zarco continue his dominance from the first day until a late charge from Tito Rabat saw the early championship leader snatch the front spot on the grid for the second successive race.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Jordi Torres was happy with his day’s work and the Spaniard is confident of putting together a strong race tomorrow.

Despite qualifying in twelfth place, eight tenths off pole, Jordi knows that he set a fast and consistent pace on his own, without taking advantage of any slipstreams that could have gained him some vital tenths and moved him up the order.

On the other side of the MAPFRE Aspar garage his team-mate Nico Terol continued to struggle with the set-up problems that dogged him yesterday and last year’s race winner will have to fight through the pack from 26th position.

12th Jordi Torres 2.10.994 (16 laps):
“In general we are happy with our performance on this second day. We have spent all day at the top end of the time sheets with a good pace, which I was able to set alone. We needed to be a bit more decisive in qualifying and I could have made use of a tow to improve the grid position but I didn’t manage to catch one. Anyway, we are happy with the job done because the pace I set on my own is a good sign for the race. The bike performed well but we will try to improve it a little more in the warm-up tomorrow morning. It will be a tough race because this is a long track and the tight sections are very physical. The start will be crucial to tag on to the lead group.”

26th Nico Terol 2.12.498 (15 laps):
“Today has followed the same pattern as yesterday. We have made countless changes to the bike but I haven’t been able to find a good feeling with it and we are making slower and slower progress. I am not enjoying myself on the bike here at all and it is really strange because last season everything clicked at this circuit and we found a set-up easily. Obviously we are going through a tough weekend but we won’t stop working until the end. The good thing is that I am usually a rider that improves on race day so we will try to get the most out of tomorrow.”

Source: Aspar Media