Espargaro 4th on first day after engine problem, Vazquez 9th

Pol Espargaró has marked the fourth best lap and Efrén Vázquez the ninth quickest circulation in the first day of qualification at the Grand Prix of Czech Republic; taking place at the Brno circuit for the championship’s traditional mid-August fixture in eastern Europe.

The two riders of Tuenti Racing Derbi encountered a few technical problems that caused them to lose valuable minutes at the beginning of the session. Espargaró took almost half an hour to reach and attack the efforts of Nico Terol, meanwhile Efrén Vázquez, at his fiftieth grand prix, still needs to improve the first two splits of the lap so as to not lose his excellent speed in the final third.

4th POL ESPARGARÓ
“We had a problem with the engine in the first part of the session and we lost quite a bit of time but luckily we were able to fix it and could then set some decent times. Nico is again very strong and it is pretty hard for the rest of us at the moment, however this is only the first day and I’m optimistic for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow we will keep working to gain back the ground we have lost, but we also have to be alert to the weather forecast that says it will rain and that could affect our plans.”

9th EFRÉN VÁZQUEZ
“I am losing too much in the first two sections and I’m not recovering enough in the last split; because of this I am lower in the classification and also distant with my times. We will keep working on the set-up of the bike to make a forward step at a circuit that is fast and technical and not easy to refine the configuration. I really want to start the second half of the season with a good result and place a good memory on my fiftieth grand prix.”

Source: Tuenti Derbi