Aleix Espargaró secured a place in the second phase of qualifying for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas by setting the sixth fastest time in yesterday’s afternoon session in Austin. However, the Aprilia rider’s task at the Texan circuit is far from easy.
According to #41, what pleased him the most about yesterday was the improvement between sessions: ‘I am especially happy with my improvement from the first to the second session. In the morning, two things happened. The first is that the first free practice is useless in terms of tires because due to the allocation I can ride with the soft front, but I can’t mount the medium because there are not enough front tires and it’s always the same: I can’t stop the bike, it’s a disaster. So, I was a bit calm‘.
On the other hand, Espargaró confessed that Austin exposes one of his major weaknesses: ‘At the same time, I have difficulties in circuits where you have to brake very, very hard, use first gear – on this track you use first gear in five corners. For me, it’s very difficult, it’s my Achilles’ heel. And in the afternoon, I improved a lot, I was very fast from the first laps‘.
The Spanish rider also said: ‘It’s not my riding style, I’m not good at braking far and hard. I’m good in flowing corners, rushing a lot at the apex. I can’t do this here. Even though it looks like a huge circuit, the corners are very, very tight, very difficult, there are many bumps, so I work very hard to be fast here‘.
