Aleix Espargaro on record pace to lead Argentina Free Practice

Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo, Friday 17 April 2015

Bridgestone slick compounds: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Medium & Hard (Asym.) & Ex-hard (Symmetric)

Bridgestone wet tyre compounds: Soft (Main) & Hard (Alternative)

Weather:   FP1 – Dry. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 26-26°C (Bridgestone measurement)

                 FP2 – Dry. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 30-32°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR rider Aleix Espargaro was in impressive form at Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo today, topping both of the day’s practice sessions and setting a time quicker than the current Circuit Record Lap in Free Practice 2.

Having finished on top in an FP1 session that was marred by poor track conditions, Espargaro relished the improved conditions in FP2 to set a lap time of 1’38.776 to finish over half a second clear of his nearest competitor, Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone. Iannone’s personal best time of 1’39.311 came on his final lap of the day and saw him pip Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez to third on the timesheets by just 0.025 seconds. All of the riders in the top three used the medium compound front slick to set their quickest time, but while Marquez set his time using the hard compound rear slick, both Espargaro and Iannone used the medium rear slick for their hot lap.

In a similar situation to the opening day of last year’s Argentina Grand Prix, the first session of the race weekend took place on a dusty track surface resulting in low grip levels and high rates of tyre wear. Conditions in the afternoon were better – although still not ideal – with improved grip available from the well-used tarmac. The low grip levels in FP1 resulted in the majority of riders using the softest front slick available this weekend, the soft compound option, for the first session. With track conditions improved for FP2, most riders switched to the medium compound front slick for greater braking stability, although the sub-standard track conditions meant the hard compound front was unused today. Rear slick choice saw a general preference for softer options in FP1; hard compound for the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders and medium compound for the remaining riders. For FP2, there was a shift in preference to the harder rear options at the start of the session – including the new extra-hard rear slick being used by the majority of Factory Honda and Yamaha riders – until the riders switched back to their softer rear slick options to set a quick time in the final ten minutes of the session.

Slightly warmer temperatures and dry conditions are forecast for tomorrow. The riders will next be on track in tomorrow morning’s Free Practice 3 session, which will commence at 0955 local time (GMT -4).

“Today’s conditions were as we expected, the dirty tarmac in the morning reducing the grip level and also causing graining on the rear tyres. However, with more rubber on the tarmac in FP2 the track condition improved considerably resulting in improved lap times and greater durability. Considering that track conditions weren’t the best, the fact that the pace is already under the race lap record is a good indication that our tyres are working well and things should only get more competitive with warmer temperatures and better track conditions tomorrow. Another encouraging sign today was the performance of our new extra-hard specification rear slick, with riders commenting that it offers good, consistent grip. Overall, it was a good first day for Bridgestone in Argentina.”