Pol Espargaro ready for Austrian GP despite challenging qualifying session

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro gave his all in Qualifying today despite struggling to adjust his Yamaha YZR-M1 to the challenging Austrian circuit and will kick off his Grand Prix battle from right behind his teammate Bradley Smith.

The Spaniard leapt straight into action this morning and delivered 21 laps as he posted his quickest time on his final run, however, this lap resulted in him having to compete in Qualifying One in the afternoon.

The 2013 Moto2 World Champion charged away when the shootout began and eventually set his personal best on the 6th lap out of 7, which saw him finish behind his teammate by 0.139. Nevertheless, despite the tricky qualifying, Espargaro remains confident for the 28-lap sprint tomorrow.

Pol Espargaro
“It didn’t quite go to plan today but we are making steps forward, even if they are small ones compared to the other riders. However, I must say that it’s tricky to set the bike up at this track because of its hard braking points and this is where we are struggling the most. The team and I are trying as many solutions as possible in the few sessions that we have available before qualifying, but until now we haven’t found the right combination or direction. This hard braking issue is the reason why I am losing time in sector one and two as these sectors feature some key points. I tried to follow some other riders but that wasn’t easy for me to do, so as a result, we will start from 15th tomorrow. Still, I am confident that we can amend the current situation and we will use the warm-up to refine the setting in order to be as competitive as possible for the race, even if I haven’t given myself an easy task on the grid.”

Source: Tech3