MotoGP | GP Assen Qualifying: Espargarò, “Fantastic result”

Saturday in Assen smiles at Aleix Espargaró and his Aprilia RS-GP. Competitive since FP3, Aleix gained direct access to the decisive qualifying for the front rows by reaching the top-ten (eighth time in 1'33.825). In qualifying Q2 the number 41 did even better, with a spectacular last lap that saw all the top riders compete with extremely close times.

Aleix finished with a great time of 1'33.029 (238 thousandths from pole!) which earned him the seventh fastest time and the best starting position on the third row. It is, for now, his best result in practice this season. Having improved the set-up of his RS-GP, Scott Redding had a good qualifying in Q1, lapping with significantly better times than what he achieved in the previous rounds, finishing in 1'33.995 and placing himself on the sixth row.

Here are the words of Aleix Espargarò: “I'm really very happy. It's only qualifying but seventh place on the grid, two tenths from pole, is a fantastic result. I enjoyed driving because after a difficult start to the season we tried to approach the weekend with greater calm, trying to constantly improve session after session and it worked. We did a great job yesterday and continued today. We achieved a good race pace and also in qualifying we showed that we are there. For tomorrow we will have to maintain this approach, we are all very close in terms of pace and with a good start we can think of fighting for important positions but it will be equally important to finish the race."

Here are Scott Redding's impressions: “Today was a good day for us. We gained a bit of stability, what we were missing yesterday. We concentrated on working with the tire choices that give me more confidence, without major upheavals but building the result step by step. As regards the pace, we manage to be constant, while we are missing a few tenths with new tyres. In FP3 this morning we missed a reference, on this track and in this wind being behind someone really makes the difference. Tomorrow it will be important to stay in the group, the times are quite close if we exclude some much faster riders. By managing not to lose ground, it will be possible to play it out in the final."