ALEIX RIDES HIS APRILIA INTO THE TOP-TEN, GOES THROUGH TO Q2 AND TAKES A SPOT ON THE THIRD ROW FOR THE START TOMORROW. EIGHTH ROW FOR SAM LOWES
Aleix Espargaró will start from the third row tomorrow (ninth best time) in the San Marino and Rimini Riviera GP. The good result consolidates the progress the Italian bike has made, often in the top-ten during this second half of the racing season.
Aleix took the first step toward this nice result in the third free practice session this morning. His seventh best time (at 1'33.626) in the session placed him in the top-ten of the combined standings that consider the times from Friday and therefore sent him through directly to Q2, the session that determines who will start from which spot on the first four rows. Once there, Aleix improved further, lapping at 1’33.149, a time that earned him a place on the third row of the starting grid.
Sam Lowes, slowed by a crash at the beginning of Q1, was unable to find an optimum feeling with the second bike and finished with the 23rd best time (1'35.659) which places him on the eighth row for the race tomorrow.