ANDREA ON THE SEVENTH ROW BUT CONFIDENT WITH RACE PACE
BRADLEY SMITH AND THE TEST TEAM AT WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT, EVEN IN THE RACE, OF THE RS-GP
With the valiant performance of yesterday that earned him a nice spot in the top ten (ninth best time), Aleix Espargaró went straight through to the Q2 session. And so, in FP3, which actually had no bearing on the grid order due to high winds, and in FP4, Aleix worked on distance, managing to find a good pace for the race.
Once in the qualifiers, he was unable to take advantage of the flying lap with rather cold and windy track conditions compromising the grip of his RS-GP just when he had put on the second tyre for the decisive session. He therefore finished 12th with a time of 1’54.917 and tomorrow he’ll start from the fourth row. This is a position that leaves his chances to battle for a top-ten spot fully intact.
The weather conditions in FP3 complicated Iannone’s already task of moving up on the grid. In fact, none of the riders managed to improve on their times from yesterday and Andrea was forced to go through Q1. He finished with a time of 1’56.464 which places him on the seventh row of the starting grid tomorrow.
Bradley Smith, with the third Aprilia, continued his development programme of the Italian V4 and the race tomorrow will also be an important step in the growth path of the promising 2019 RS-GP.