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Category: Superbikes
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ALEIX TWELFTH IN THE SILVERSTONE QUALIFIERS
CHATTERING LIMITS ANDREA, ON THE SIXTH ROW
The first good news for team Aprilia came at the end of FP3, where Aleix Espargaró was sent straight through to the Q2 session. The Spanish rider therefore took advantage of FP4 to work on race strategy, trying various tyre options and assessing the ideal setup. Aleix finished qualifying with a time of 1'59.620, which puts him in twelfth place.
Andrea struggled in today’s sessions with some nasty chattering which limited his efforts in finding the best performance. His time of 2'00.240 places him in the second spot of the sixth row on the grid. In anticipation of the race, Andrea and his team will analyse their options to attenuate the problem with vibrations and increase the feeling.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"I am having a lot of fun riding the bike and that is a positive aspect. I think that the new asphalt is helping. We have not had any problems caused by vibrations. The layout, with not too many spots where we need to accelerate from low speed, also suits the RS-GP well. I am pleased with this Saturday, but the top-ranking riders were really fast. It will not be easy to stay in the group during the race, but that is my goal."
ANDREA IANNONE
"In terms of tyre selection and race configuration, we have rather clear ideas. Unfortunately, we still have the chattering problem which really limited me. We’ll see if the guys are able to find some solution that will allow me to gain confidence and close the gap, even compared to Aleix. It will not be simple, but we’ll hang in there and try to improve constantly."
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SATISFACTION AND REGRETS FOR APRILIA IN THE GERMAN RACE
ALEIX CRASHES ON THE PENULTIMATE LAP AFTER AN OUTSTANDING RACE WITH THE GROUP BATTLING FOR FOURTH TO TENTH PLACE
ANDREA MAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD GETTING TO KNOW HIS RS-GP AND FINISHES IN THE POINTS AGAIN
With an outstanding race, Aleix Espargaró rode his Aprilia where he would like to be consistently in this 2019 season, namely with the group battling for the positions between fourth and tenth place. After pulling away from his brother Pol in the early stages of the race, he stayed with the group that included Dovizioso, Mir, Miller, Petrucci, Rossi and Morbidelli. In the finale, in a great duel with Morbidelli, he moved into ninth place, but at the start of the penultimate lap, he crashed out on turn one, nullifying the result in terms of points, but certainly not negating the positive sensations of the weekend.
Andrea Iannone confirmed his growth trend that began at the Barcelona race. After struggling in the early stages, he gradually gained confidence, lapping with times that were more and more like those farther ahead. He finished in the points here as well, overtaking Nakagami right at the end for thirteenth place.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"We were finally competitive. I’m sorry for the team and for all those who work on this project. When you end a race with a crash, you are usually angry about it, but today I am pleased because we were able to stay with the group where we want to be battling, from fourth to tenth place. I had a good start. I didn’t have great grip on the rear, but I was very strong in braking and I managed to stay up with Rossi. When he overtook Morbidelli, I struggled to do the same and I got a bit frustrated. When I got past him and tried to close the gap, I made a small mistake on turn 1 and crashed. We are not in the fight for the title, so when I saw the chance to take eighth, I went for it. It’s a pity about how it ended, but I am very pleased about how we did this weekend."
ANDREA IANNONE
"We are headed into the summer break on an upward trend. From Barcelona on, we took a small step and we need to pick up from here for the second half of the season. It was not an easy race today. I struggled with fresh tyres, but as the laps went by, I began to improve. We are taking some points home, but more than anything, I have more confidence in the saddle. We are able to understand the RS-GP better and we are very clear about which points we need to work on. I hope that the guys at home are able to get something new ready already for Brno. Our goal from here on is to battle consistently for the top 10."
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The E-pole of the newly-born MotoE World Cup was a bit of past and future at the Sachsenring. Picking up from the old-school Superbike Superpole but with the all-electric prototypes by Energica, Team Trentino Gresini MotoE got on track to battle for the first starting grid of the season.
With one single lap for every rider, Savadori and Ferrari make the most of the opportunity. The first one of the two to launch himself on the main straight was Lorenzo Savadori, who did not shine in free practice – due to his FP1 crash – but did well in setting his so-far quickest lap of the weekend (1’29.959secs) and claiming the 11thplace on the grid.
Matteo Ferrari did even better by being the first rider to lap under the 1’29secs mark: the 1’28.792secs time placed him on the second row, so the #11 can now challenge at the front with a great pace on his side.
The opening race in the history of MotoE will begin at 10:00, with the question mark of the rain that is expected to make its appearance tonight at the Sachsenring – and potentially shuffling the cards for the win.
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The inaugural day of action at Sachsenring saw the first free practice sessions of the newly-born FIM MotoE World Cup and for Team Trentino Gresini was a bittersweet day.
Matteo Ferrari was very active on track (16 laps completed) and was among the fastest riders as the maiden session got underway before showing a great pace and logging a personal best of 1’29.496secs lap-time, which was competitive enough to place him within today’s top-10. The 11 still has some room for improvement on the second split, but he generally claimed a good feeling with the bike and the track.
On the other side of the pit-box, Lorenzo Savadori did not enjoy a positive day: the #32 experienced a high-side at turn one few minutes into the opening sessions, meaning he could only ride in the afternoon. Lorenzo got away with a painful leg, which did not allow him to be at his best in the afternoon, although he is confident to be back to full fitness tomorrow.
MotoE proceedings will resume tomorrow at 4pm for the single-lap E-Pole qualifying session, which gets underway at 4pm local time (GMT+2).
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FINAL GP BEFORE THE SUMMER BREAK ON THE SACHSENRING
ANDREA IANNONE KEEN TO CONFIRM THE GROWTH TREND SEEN IN ASSEN
GOOD NEWS EXPECTED FROM ALEIX ESPARGARÓ ON RECOVERY FROM THE BARCELONA ACCIDENT
Before the summer break, MotoGP makes a stop in Germany to tackle the 3.7 kilometres of the Sachsenring. It is the shortest track on the calendar, but full of treachery: with 10 left-handers and only 3 right-handers, the German asphalt puts the engineers to the test, especially in tyre choice and use. On this subject, all the Michelins allocated for the German GP are asymmetrically constructed, with softer compound on the right side.
Aprilia heads to Germany after the good result in Assen, with Andrea Iannone increasingly more competitive, finishing the race in the top 10. These are the first fruits of much work put in by the Italian rider and his team. The biggest question mark for Aleix in Holland had to do with his physical condition after the crash in Barcelona, doubts that the Spanish rider overcame by gritting his teeth and taking home precious points in the race. The situation is improving steadily but, with only a few days of rest, Aleix’s condition will be put to a hard test by the short German circuit which is physically extremely demanding.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"After the Assen race, my knee had swollen up a lot, so as soon as I got home, I continued with rehabilitation. The goal is to be able to ride more smoothly on the Sachsenring, a track where I have always felt particularly good."
ANDREA IANNONE
"The German track is very complicated, narrow and twisty. It will be an important test bench for us. We are working a lot on managing the electronics and on a circuit like this one, we’ll be able to assess our progress from this point of view. The goal is to have another good weekend after the one in Assen, where we had a nice confidence boost."
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