SEVENTH BEST TIME IN FREE PRACTICE FOR ALEIX, EIGHTH ROW FOR SAM LOWES
With a brilliant third free practice session in Brno, Aleix Espargaró rode his RS-GP directly through to Q2. He did it with the seventh best time of 1'55.871, just 5 tenths behind the leader, Marquez. This was another top-ten placement that brings the performance of Aleix and his Aprilia closer and closer to that of the top riders. It was the cherry on top of two very positive days of practice where he was consistently among the protagonists.
But in the session that decides the starting grid order, Aleix crashed out right on the final turn of a lap where his time would have placed him somewhere on the front two rows. The crash greatly compromised his position on the grid. He will therefore start from the fourth row with the 11th best time (1'56.355), a time he did on the second lap of the final session, before attempting the decisive time attack.
Sam Lowes also had a crash during qualifying (Q1), so he will have to settle for a spot on the eighth row tomorrow, the result of his 22nd place time (1'57.465).