Confidence running high for 11th grid-spot Pol Espargaro

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team’s riders produced another strong-minded display in qualifying today and will begin the Circuit of the Americas Grand Prix with Bradley Smith in 8th and Pol Espargaro in 11th position for the second round of the MotoGP World Championship.

Both riders moved straight into the qualifying practice2 as they made further steps forward after a challenging start in yesterday’s opening sessions.

Rookie Pol Espargaro completed a successful run to qualify 11th for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, and only just over a second from the leading time in his second race appearance on a MotoGP bike.

After overcoming the difficulty of learning the 2013 Bridgestone tyres, which he had previously not competed on, the reigning Moto2 World Champion advanced straight into QP2 with a strong 9th place in FP3, ahead of the Factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi.

Signs of progression were evident, as his best lap of 2:03.913 set in QP2, was his fastest of the weekend by 2.7 seconds compared to yesterday’s opening session, and only a tenth away from 7th place.

However confidence is high for the 22 year old to gain a positive result tomorrow and score his inaugural points in the MotoGP World Championship as some of the riders in front of him were running soft tyres today, which will not be sustainable for tomorrow’s race distance.

Pol Espargaro – 11th – 2:03.913:
“Overall, I am pretty happy as I went straight into QP2, which shows a big improvement since Qatar. On the other hand I am a little disappointed with 11th, as I was near the top guys, and only one tenth of a second off 7th place. If I had not made some small mistakes on the second run with the new tyre, I know I could have gone faster. The bike felt good, although I did experience some issues with the front end of the bike and also with the wheeling which we tried to fix, and will continue to resolve tomorrow. Also, I needed to relearn the track on a MotoGP bike, which is difficult as I must be smoother. Jorge and Valentino are able to be so quick as they ride in this manner, and this is what I need to improve. I feel positive for the race, as the riders in front of me, rode with a soft tyre today, which gives me an advantage as they can’t use it tomorrow. I need a good start, and it will be a tough battle but I am confident that I can overtake and get a good result.”

Source: Tech3 Communications