Positive start for Pol Espargaro in the Argentine

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro completed a bright start in cloudy Argentina to finish the opening day in 7th position aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1.

Despite a cautious start to the day in FP1 due to the dirty track surface, the young Spaniard leapt into action in the afternoon and put in a thorough effort as he began establishing a strong setup for the 25 lap battle on Sunday.

Although the weather was gloomy and the rain clouds threatened, only a few small drops fell which was not enough to disrupt the session and so Espargaro plugged away.

He concluded the practice with a best lap of 1’39.648, which left him in 7th but only three tenths of a second back from 2nd place. His opening performance today at the fast flowing Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo leaves him poised for a successful show in qualifying tomorrow.

Pol Espargaro
“Overall, it was a positive start to the Argentina round and I am pleased with what we managed to achieve today. We produced a good lap in the afternoon and the rhythm was solid with both hard and soft compounds of tyre. We were also quite close to the front during the whole FP2 session, which is certainly a positive. Tomorrow we have to concentrate on testing the tyres further as at the moment we are not sure which one will be the most effective in the race as the conditions are changing quite rapidly. The track is as dirty as last year which is a big pity as it has such a nice layout but we could not take advantage and enjoy riding it today due to the dirt. However, altogether it was a positive start to round 3 and additionally, my physical conditions are fortunately ok. Having said that, I do experience a slight bit of pain in the hard braking zones and also when I have to change direction quickly. However, I can handle this without painkillers, so I’m already looking forward to day 2 in Argentina.”

Source: Tech3 Communications