Fantastic fifth on Indianapolis grid for Juanfran Guevara

The lap times at the newly reformed Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit continued to tumble today with the Moto3 riders finding two seconds compared to yesterday as they increased their pace in the push for qualifying times.

After Isaac Viñales set the pace yesterday it was Efren Vázquez that set the benchmark in free practice this morning, only for Tonucci, Fenati, Márquez and Miller to come through and challenge the experienced Spaniard for pole in the afternoon. It took Miler to break into the 1’40s to seal top spot on tomorrow’s grid but with some close lap times behind him it looks certain to be a tight group race at the front.

Juanfran Guevara’s best qualifying performances so far this season have come in Italy and Germany, where he was unable to build on eighth and ninth place respectively on race day. His target is to put that trend right tomorrow after sealing a career best fifth place on the grid with a fantastic final run that was the culmination of a weekend’s hard work.

The Spanish youngster set three quick times at the very end of qualifying, somehow finding three tenths in the final sector of his final lap to close to within two tenths of pole and secure a second row start in fifth place.

5th Juanfran Guevara 1.41.007 (19 laps):
“We pushed hard on new tyres in the first half of qualifying and then at the end there were a lot of riders on track looking for a tow but I stayed patient and managed to find some more pace. I pushed harder again on my final lap and found three tenths of a second in one sector, which lifted me up to fifth. I am happy with the weekend in general so far but especially with our pace in qualifying. I feel comfortable on the bike, I can more or less ride it how I want and I feel confident enough to take risks. The important thing is that we have been consistent throughout the weekend and we have taken a step forward from yesterday to today. It will be a tough race and I guess there will be a big group at the front because of the importance of slipstreams here. We’ll have to be on our guard from the start and I will need to ride aggressively if I want to hang on to this position.”

Source: Aspar Media