Espargaro on second row for Indy battle - Printable Version +- TT Website Forum (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums) +-- Forum: Isle of Man TT Website (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: Other Race Meetings - MotoGP, WSB & BSB, Irish Roads etc - (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=13) +--- Thread: Espargaro on second row for Indy battle (/showthread.php?tid=17693)

Espargaro on second row for Indy battle - Malcolm - 10-08-2014 Pol Espargaro will start the 10th round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship from the 2nd row of the grid after guiding his Monster Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP bike to 6th position during today's qualifying. The young Spanish rider kicked off proceedings in a highly notable manner this morning by clinching 5th with a lap time of 1’32.797, only 0.275 from the top of the timesheet which saw him glide straight through to qualifying practice 2. Before this he expertly completed the FP4 session in 2nd position. The 23 year old rider furthered his pace progression as he powered onwards in Q2 to set a best time of 1’32.243 on his 6th lap which resulted in being only 0.374 from the final front row and the best Yamaha position of Jorge Lorenzo. His qualifying result leaves Espargaro confident and prepared to complete a further points scoring rout tomorrow to build upon his hard fought 7th position in the World Championship standings in his debut season in the premier class. On the other side of the garage, Britain’s Bradley Smith completed an effective qualifying campaign, despite falling on the final lap in qualifying practice 2 to place his Yamaha YZR-M1 on third row for tomorrow’s 27 lap sprint around the world famous Indianapolis circuit. Having began yesterday’s opening day of practice positively by clinching 2nd in the first session, Smith continued the forward momentum today in FP3 to post a best time of 1’33.202, seizing 8th position and allowing him to pass straight through to the final fifteen minute qualifying shootout. This afternoon the Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider posted a best time of 1’32.343 deep into the session and only two tenths from 4th place, yet unfortunately fell on his final lap. Smith again wounded his previously injured finger, but will still be able to compete tomorrow. His time was strong enough to retain 9th and he will now aim to undertake a trademark forward start before undertaking a spirited performance to achieve a competitive result tomorrow. Pol Espargaro - Position : 6th - Time : 1'32.243 Laps : 8 "Overall, I am quite satisfied with the second row as qualifying result today and I feel really confident for the race tomorrow. There are two open class bikes in front and I am convinced that I have a better race pace so with a strong start off the grid, we should be able to overhaul them and get into the top five which is what I am aiming for. As for tyres, we still haven’t made a full decision on what we will use for the race. The softer compound has really good grip but as the asphalt is aggressive here it may not last the full race distance. Therefore, we will evaluate the situation in the warm up tomorrow morning and make our decision then. Despite this, I am confident and happy with both compounds of tyres and really looking forward to the race where I hope to continue my strong run of results here." Bradley Smith - Position : 9th Time : 1'32.343 Laps : 7 "It goes without saying that a fall is never the most ideal way to complete the session, but fortunately I am all ok for tomorrow’s race and have only reopened my finger. The cause of the fall was because I was asking a little too much of the rear tyre as it would have lasted a maximum of almost two laps, but I tried to do three. The time itself was acceptable and I am happy to be on the third row, even though I know I could have been faster. The team and I undertook some really positive work during FP4 to prepare ourselves for the race where I used the hard tyre which certainly felt comfortable. We have made no decision on the choice of compound for tomorrow, but we’ll wait and see how the grip levels are in warm up before tactfully deciding. Either way, I am happy with either choice of tyre as well as how the Yamaha feels and so am looking forward to getting a strong start plus having a positive race from the third row." .