Aleix Espargaró will start from the fourth row in Qatar GP

With the valiant performance of yesterday that earned him a nice spot in the top ten (ninth best time), Aleix Espargaró went straight through to the Q2 session. And so, in FP3, which actually had no bearing on the grid order due to high winds, and in FP4, Aleix worked on distance, managing to find a good pace for the race.

Once in the qualifiers, he was unable to take advantage of the flying lap with rather cold and windy track conditions compromising the grip of his RS-GP just when he had put on the second tyre for the decisive session. He therefore finished 12th with a time of 1’54.917 and tomorrow he’ll start from the fourth row. This is a position that leaves his chances to battle for a top-ten spot fully intact.

Aleix Espargaró:

“The track conditions during the qualifiers were truly treacherous due to the wind combined with the asphalt temperature. It is a situation we really need to think hard about because it is truly dangerous. On my flying lap, with the second tyre, I lost the front end twice. It was my mistake, but with the medium on the front, which is the tyre that I’ll need to use, it was really difficult, so I wasn’t able to improve on my time. Now we need to think about the race. We have a good pace over race distance and I think that we’ll be able to battle for a spot in the top ten, but if the conditions are like they were today, it will be a difficult race for everyone.”