Espargaro fastest on Day 2 in Qatar
Losail, 21 March 2014: Action resumed Friday at the Losail Circuit in Qatar for the second and third free practice sessions of the opening round of the 2014 MotoGP season, a NGM Forward Racing release said.
It was another fantastic day for Aleix Espargaro of NGM Forward Racing, who was the fastest rider in both practice sessions. The Spaniard rider of the NGM Forward Racing Team was quick to find a competitive pace with hard tyres and he was able to use at the best the soft tyre to close on top of the time sheets, recording 1’54’73, +0.413 ahead of Andrea Iannone, second and Alvaro Bautista, third.
Espargaro said: “I’m really happy to close the second day here in Qatar on top of the time sheets. We have a good race pace with the hard tyre and then we could make another step forward with the soft tyre. We have a good set up but we need to keep on working. Tomorrow our target is the front row in order to fight for the podium on Sunday. We know that it won’t be easy as we loose a lot in terms of top speed on the long straight, but finishing on top for two days in a row is already a fantastic result. Together with the team we are all very excited and motivated”.
It was a positive day also for NGM Forward Racing teammate Colin Edwards who was satisfied of his race pace with hard tyres, while he needs to improve the bike set up with the soft tyre in order to make a step forward tomorrow during the qualifying session.
The track conditions were quiet slippery during the FP3 and the riders expect that it will be even worst for the race that will take the start at 22:00.
Team Yamaha Racing
Meanwhile, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo left it to the last minute in Friday’s final practice, taking seventh to secure a spot in Saturday’s second qualifying session within the top ten riders for Sunday’s Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar.
Lorenzo continued today where he finished yesterday, battling a severe lack of grip on the Losail circuit as he struggled to set up his YZR-M1 for Sunday’s race. Having completed the second practice of the weekend in 11th earlier in the evening the double MotoGP champion came in to the third session sitting outside the top ten and so provisionally relegated to the first of tomorrow’s two qualifying sessions. As the minutes wound down a mid-session smattering of rain threatened to complicate matters further. In the final moments Lorenzo rose to the occasion under pressure, pulling out a 1’55.495 lap on the medium rear tyre to climb several places and take seventh at the end of the practice, securing a place in the second qualifying session.
Although also finding the lack of grip a real challenge, teammate Valentino Rossi spent most of today’s two practices one step ahead of Lorenzo. The nine-time world champion was working hard to ride round the grip issues the Movistar Yamaha riders were facing, and finished the first session of the day in ninth position, just under a second from the front. The final session of the day initially saw more of the same with the Italian pushing his M1 hard to stay in the top ten. With 25 minutes to go he had moved to ninth and looked able to hold the position until the last moments when Lorenzo’s late surge from 11th to seventh dropped him to tenth.
The final combined times mean both Lorenzo and Rossi will go through to the second qualifying sessiontomorrow to fight for their grid positions for Sunday’s race.
Combined Free Practice Result (provided by Yamaha team)
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ends
