Pol Espargaro intends to clinch a top tier qualifying position in Jerez

Pol Espargaro bolted into action in the opening shakedown at the Circuito de Jerez as he embarked on setting up his Yamaha YZR-M1 for the round four battle on Sunday. When FP1 commenced, the Spaniard got straight to work and completed 19 laps, which left him in 12th and confident of improving in the afternoon. Here, the 25-year-old continued his efforts before finishing in 14th, yet just a mere 0.307 from 8th. Espargaro now focuses on tomorrow where he intends to up the pace and clinch a top tier qualifying position.

Pol Espargaro – Position: 14th – Time: 1’41.167 – Laps: 39
“To be honest, the first day has not been super positive and the position is far from where we want to be, but we will keep on pushing. This situation seems to be reoccurring this year and by that I mean that we are only closer to the other satellite riders when it comes to race day. Anyway, to preserve tyres we used the same set from FP1 in the afternoon. This was in order to keep some new tyres for tomorrow, but even though I was on old rubber, it’s not nice to end up where we did. Therefore, we have to really go for it tomorrow so that we can go straight through to QP2 even if that may seem like a bit of a challenge at the moment. We have to solve a few issues as the grip is very low and we are struggling with the traction. In addition, if we check the data with the factory guys, we cannot compare it because they are running completely different setups, which are not compatible with our bikes. Nevertheless, my focus is on qualifying which is the most important thing for me, as it is vital to have a good grid position in order to have a better chance of doing a solid job on Sunday.”

Source – Tech3