SEVENTH ROW FOR THE APRILIA MACHINES IN THE JAPAN GP
The qualifying session on the Japanese Motegi track placed both the Aprilia riders on the seventh row of the starting grid for the GP tomorrow.
Aleix Espargaró, despite demonstrating his potential for a much better position, stopped at the 19th best time at 1'46.183. After putting on the tyre for his flying lap toward the end of the first of the two sessions that decide the grid order, Aleix battled down to the last turn for one of the top two spots, a position that would have opened the doors to the next session. He recovered in the second and third sector, coming within just 22 thousandths of the first place position, but a mistake on the final corner cost him what he had recovered up to that point.
Scott Redding fell victim to a crash (without consequences for the rider), precisely during what would have been his best lap. His qualifiers finished there and the time of 1'46.571 that he had previously put on the boards earned him the 21st spot on the starting grid, also on the seventh row.
