DEMANDING DAY AT THE COTA FOR ESPARGARÓ AND REDDING.
The Aprilia riders, who had done two good practice sessions yesterday, found completely different grip conditions today. The lack of feeling conditioned preparation for the qualifiers, forcing both to go through the Q1 selection session.
For Aleix, the greatest difficulties were due to the balance of the RS-GP, with a troublesome chattering and poor grip. Despite using different tyres in terms of compound, the Spanish rider was unable to be incisive and will have to settle for the first spot on the seventh row of the starting grid.
The poor grip make the day difficult for Scott Redding as well. After a good start in FP3, and with the goal of doing a time attack in the later portion of the session to try for a top 10 spot that would have meant going straight through to Q2, the British rider's plans were spoiled by the arrival of a light rain shower. Subsequently, in FP4 and in the first qualifying session, Scott was unable to find the same feeling, finishing with the twenty-second best time for a spot on the eighth row.