Pol Espargaro begins Motul TT Assen charge

Pol Espargaro got straight on the pace in the Netherlands and closed day one with a positive performance. The young Spaniard began strongly and after completing the first shake down laps, he quickly set about adjusting his Yamaha YZR-M1 to the iconic Assen circuit. He impressively finished the FP1 in 3rd, with a lap time that was a mere 0.074 from the position in front, which left him highly confident for the afternoon. Here, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion carried on his efforts and with rain expected tomorrow morning, he pushed and determinedly posted a best time on his penultimate lap that left him only half a second from the top. Espargaro now optimistically looks on to the all-important qualifying shootout at the Cathedral of Speed.

Pol Espargaro – Position: 9th – Time: 1’34.163 – Laps: 36
“I am very pleased overall with the first day at Assen, because the times were competitive throughout both sessions and I finished only half a second from the front, plus, just 0.1 from Jorge. I enjoy riding at this track and my feeling this morning, when we started, was positive straight away. Then, at the beginning of FP2, we had to try some tyre options in order to have a clear idea about which way to go this weekend. Initially I didn’t feel too comfortable on the hard compound of rear tyre, so we tried another one but it was the same, which means the hard compound won’t be our choice. At the end of the FP2, it felt like a qualifying session as the forecast for tomorrow is not ideal so it was important to finish inside the top ten. There were a lot of fast guys outside the cut off point for QP2 so to end up where I did means that I can have a better rest tonight as I am through to Qualifying 2 even if the rain falls tomorrow. There, I plan to be strong and continue the good form in the Netherlands.”

Source – Tech3