Pol Espargaro qualifies 6th at Valencia

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro will begin the final race of his debut season in the MotoGP class from the rear of the second row in 6th after a strong qualifying in Valencia.

The young Spaniard started his day in superb form by completing free practice 3 with a result of 1’31.083 which saw him end the session impressively in second place and only 0.133 from the leading lap. This set him up perfectly for QP2 under gloriously sunny yet windy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

During the qualifying dash, Espargaro launched into a formidable run instantly before finishing with a best time of 1’31.307 that was set at the close of session on the last of his nine laps.

The 23 year old rider’s notable efforts saw him fantastically clinch 6th in what was a strong-minded and well fought performance with his time being only four tenths from pole position.

Tomorrow he will lunge forward at the start of the 30 lap race as he aims to confirm 6th in the championship standings in the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Pol Espargaro
“Of course a second row start is nothing to be too unhappy about, even though after our performance this morning, I expected to finish a bit higher up the grid. However, to be just behind the four factory bikes as well as Iannone is definitely a promising position for us to be in for tomorrow. In addition, I remain convinced that we are stronger in the race than what we have shown on the single lap today. The wind was really strong this afternoon so any of the riders were lucky if they managed to have a wind free run. I unfortunately made a small mistake on my fastest lap and with these small gaps, you can easily lose a couple of positions. However, to be only four tenths from pole is a good achievement and puts us in a good place to fight from in order to end our season in sixth overall tomorrow, which is our aim.”

Source: Tech3 Communications