Hard work puts Torres 20th on Australian GP grid, Terol struggles to 26th
A light rain shower just fifteen minutes from the end of qualifying practice at Phillip Island sent the riders scurrying back to the garage and saw the grid positions virtually decided before the final battle. It was a deserved pole position though for Pol Espargaró, who dominated the session ahead of Scott Redding and Marc Márquez. It promises to be a thrilling battle at the front, where Espargaró needs a victory and fifteenth place or lower from Márquez to take the championship to the final round. Any other outcome and the latter Spaniard will be crowned World Champion tomorrow.
MAPFRE Aspar rider Jordi Torres feared that this circuit would not be suited to his riding style and it has proven to be the case for the Spaniard, who has nevertheless worked hard in every session to turn things around. The hard-braking rookie is adapting as best he can to the flowing nature of this technical layout and is slowly improving. After qualifying twentieth fastest he needs more improvements tomorrow if he is to challenge for points. Meanwhile the situation is even worse for his team-mate Nico Terol, who has set-up issues that he needs to resolve in warm-up if he is to leave Australia with a positive result from 26th on the grid.
20th Jordi Torres 1.35.609 (19 laps):
“We realised that we went the wrong way with the setting yesterday so we tried something different today and it was better. We did a long run which helped us to find some time and learn to be a bit smoother around this circuit. We had a couple more changes planned for the afternoon but only managed to try one because of the rain. Even so I am quite satisfied and I think we have the pace to challenge for the top fifteen, which is our main objective tomorrow. Phillip Island is a very difficult circuit and it is a big challenge for me to get a result here because it is not my kind of track. If I can start linking the corners together properly in the race tomorrow and finish it well I’ll be happy.”
26th Nico Terol 1.36.550 (17 laps):
“We improved the front end setting this morning and resolved some of the problems from yesterday but they resurfaced in the afternoon. We kept trying things to get the bike turning better but without positive results and it’s a shame because I love this track but I’m not enjoying myself this weekend at all. I can’t find any confidence when the weight transfers to the front. It has been another tough day but we are here to work hard and we will keep doing that until we find a solution. We need to look at where we can improve the bike this evening and I need to work out how to improve my riding.”
Source: Aspar Media
