Sensational 5th on the Sachsenring grid for Aleix Espargaro

Crashes have been the story of the weekend so far for MotoGP at the Sachsenring, the tight and technical German circuit with so much emphasis on the left side of the tyre.

The track has already claimed two victims this GP, with Lorenzo ruled out yesterday due to an additional injury to his damaged collarbone and Pedrosa injured on Saturday with a huge free practice highside taking him out of qualifying. The Catalan rider has suffered a small left collarbone fracture and is a doubt for Sunday’s race. Briton Crutchlow suffered two heavy Friday crashes but still qualified second today, with Marquez on pole and Rossi back on the front row after a three year absence.

So much has been said about Aleix Espargaró’s challenge to the prototype riders on his CRT machine this year, but he surpassed himself on Saturday. He was second in Saturday morning free practice, just 0.2s off the best time. Going straight into Q2 he then achieved the fifth best qualifying time, 0.5s off pole, improving again on his best MotoGP grid position. He is looking forward to a great race on Sunday.

5th Aleix Espargaró 1.21.887:
“Qualifying fifth is amazing but what is even better is how close I was to pole! In the morning I was second fastest and just 0.5s off P1, so we knew we were working well. This track helps us as the differences in engine power are levelled out a bit and we are closer to the prototypes. I’m excited about the race and I think I can get a good result. If it’s cold we could have an advantage as our rear tyre could perform better than what the prototypes have. So I’m hoping it’s chilly and we can be even more competitive. Either way I’ll give it everything I’ve got and see if I can match my grid position in the race. Our set-up is almost perfect, thanks to the good work of the team.”

Source: Aspar Media