Aleix Espargaró and his Aprilia were key players in the Saturday qualifiers for the German GP that will be held tomorrow on the Sachsenring circuit.

Fully confirming his positive trend from Friday, when he stayed consistently with the leaders in all weather conditions, Espargaró finished the morning free practice, held in dry conditions, with an excellent fourth place time of 1’21.209 that opened the doors for him to go straight through to Q2, the qualifying sessions with the twelve best riders.

The rain, always looming over the Saxon circuit, arrived before the qualifiers which were therefore held in wet conditions. Even in this situation, Aleix confirmed his potential by staying with the leaders, finishing with the eighth best time (1’28.526) which places him on the third row of the starting grid tomorrow. This is a good position that confirms the level reached by the RS-GP and leaves the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider's ambitions intact of bringing home an important result in the race after the good placements achieved in practice here and in the previous rounds.

Sam Lowes did not benefit as hoped in the wet conditions which had enhanced his riding style in Le Mans and Assen. He finished Q1 in eleventh place which earns him 21st place overall and therefore a spot on the seventh row after a crash at the end of the session.


ALEIX ESPARGARO'

"Eighth place is not bad but I was aiming to do better, given how competitive I was in all the sessions. Tomorrow I am hoping for a dry race. We have the best pace of the season, but I stopped watching the weather forecast because it is basically useless here. Analysing the situation well and choosing the right tyre will be essential. The asphalt dries out very quickly here, so we will need to be smart in deciding the best strategy."

SAM LOWES 

"I am a bit disappointed with the qualifiers. I have always been fast in the wet and I expected to be able to go through to Q2. The crash was rather violent and I have a bit of pain in my back, but fortunately nothing serious. In FP4 we did a really good job. Before it started raining I did a long run at a competitive pace. In terms of settings, we are fairly well dialled in for any conditions. Maybe on the front we can still make some changes, but in general I am feeling positive about the race tomorrow."