Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro will begin the 85th Dutch TT from the middle of the second row on the grid after pulling off an impressive qualifying performance aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1.
The young Spaniard completed the opening session this morning with a best lap of 1’33.660 that left him in 9th, despite a small shower in the middle which cleared quickly. His time allowed him to progress straight through to QP2 and once the 15 minute contest started, the 24 year old pulled the pin instantly as he sought to clinch a top grid position for tomorrow’s 26 lap race.
He went on to complete eight laps, with his top time being a 1’33.013 which was a mere blink of an eye from the front row by only 0.127. The confident charge by the 2013 Moto2 World Champion today sets him up for a strong display tomorrow where he intends to follow up his strong qualifying with a top 6 finish.
Pol Espargaro
“I am happy to begin from fifth on the grid as it has been a few races since I’ve started from the second row. The qualifying was really tight and I’m pleased that we were able to put a fast lap together, which was our ambition after yesterday’s practice. As we achieved this, we now have a good position to start from in tomorrow’s race. Unfortunately, the changes that we tried in FP4 didn’t work as well as we hoped and I couldn’t ride the bike as aggressively as I wanted to with the low grip levels. So we changed back to the setting that we used before and with the new tyres, things seemed to be a lot better straight away. Now we have to continue to work tomorrow in the warm up in order to be all prepared for the race.”
Source: Tech3 Communications
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