While the talk of yesterday’s MotoGP qualifying session was obviously Marc Marquez, many people failed to notice Power Electronics rider Aleix Espargaro who put his much slower CRT/ART bike into 9th just 0.
009s behind Yamaha factory rider Valentino Rossi and ahead of Nicky Hayden, rookie Bradley Smith, Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone who are all on prototypes.
Whether Espargaro will able to fight with these riders over the race distance remains to be seen, but he is no doubt doing an excellent job with what he has.
Despite having not tested at Austin, Andrea Dovizioso with his Ducati has out qualified once again Valentino Rossi and this time Dovizioso may be able to keep his wheels in front of his fellow countryman as the Ducati in Texas has a lot less tire wear, and the Ducati rider has a never give up attitude that will no doubt come in handy in the long race, even if Cal Crutchlow believes that ‘you can’t rule out Valentino, you can’t rule out Bradl, they are going to be there.
’Karel Abraham’s collision during QP1 with Gresini rider Bryan Staring has cost him a fractured left collarbone and surgery and he has been ruled out today’s Austin GPRead what the riders had to say after yesterday’s exciting qualifying session.
Cal Crutchlow – 4th “I am really happy to qualify in fourth, even though it would have been nice to be back on the front row again.
But coming here with no previous track experience meant it was always going to be an uphill battle, so to finish so close to Lorenzo and be ahead of Bradl and Valentino, who both tested here last month, is a great achievement for myself and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.
This is a long and technical track but fortunately I have been able to learn it very quickly and my crew have also got their heads around what I need to go fast and together we have done a great job to be so far up the grid.
I’m obviously quite a long way off Marquez and Dani but so is everybody else.
It will be a really tough race and very physical for 21-laps but having come here without any prior track knowledge, I always said a top six finish will be mission accomplished for me and that remains my goal.
” Stefan Bradl – 5th“Today it was a good day for us because we could use the full potential of the hard tyre which is a positive sign for us.
In the fourth practice we were able to make a longer distance evaluating the reaction of the hard tyre.
We improved our consistency and I am pleased with the bike set-up so far because we can be fast from the first lap till the end of the race… Today’s qualifying went well but I am not totally happy with the result.
However top five is our target and we can stay with the guys up in the pack”.
Andrea Dovizioso – 6th “We’ve been going well the whole weekend, so I’m pleased.
The track is really nice, especially because the grip is nearly normal now, which makes riding more fun as well.
The gap to the front is pretty big, but it’s sort of like that for many of the riders.
The race will be strange because the circuit is new for everyone.
The tyres aren’t wearing because they don’t have to ‘work’ hard here, so I doubt that the performance will fall off much.
I managed to adapt pretty quickly to this new track, and I’m pushing hard because in some respects I feel good with the Ducati.
We know we have limits, but we’re working well.
I see optimism on the team, because we want to return to the top.
”Alvaro Bautista – 7th “In terms of the lap time we are a long way from pole position but we are quite close to the front row and we have done a good job this afternoon to make the right changes to the setting.
We decided to use the hard tyre this afternoon and the bike felt completely different, I had more confidence with it even after a lot of laps.
My first run in qualifying was quite good but then on my second one I got held up by a bunch of riders looking for a tow and missed out on the chance to move up to the second row, which I think I could have done.
The important thing is that we are working well and we have a good feeling with the bike for the race tomorrow.
The front three are out of reach but I think we can fight for fourth if we can get a good start and push.
”Aleix Espargaró – 9th “I’m really satisfied with the way things turned out in qualifying today and in the last half hour of practice I did a ten lap race simulation on used tyres.
That went really well and I felt so smooth, with an incredible pace in the low 2′06 region, which was very good.
Then in qualifying I was able top ut in some realy fast times with an almost empty tank and the job we’re doing is great, to be so close to the official bikes.
With the chassis we have an almost perfect set up and that means I can ride confidently.
I’ve been working with this team for a year and a half now and the teamwork is amazing, we’re getting the absolute maximum from our material.
I usually like faster circuits but with this bike I’m able to ride well on hard braking sections here.
The first five laps will be crucial in the race and I don’t want to let the factory bikes get away.
Although they are fighting a different battle we will aim to be on top in the CRTs.
”Nicky Hayden – 10th “We made some progress this morning, and I thought we could be a little bit more competitive in Q2 than I was.
When I first went out, I had a vibration issue with the rear tyre that was similar to what I had in qualifying in Qatar.
I came in and changed tyres, and it went away immediately.
Starting tenth here isn’t good.
We’ll see how things go tomorrow, especially at turn one, where it will be interesting to see if everyone can get through cleanly on the start.
We still have some problems with the front, which hurts your confidence.
We also need to improve in the esses, so we’ll try something in the warm-up.
Regardless, I’m looking forward to the race.
”Bradley Smith – 11th “It has been a really hard two days but in the end it turned out very well and I’m happy with my performance.
Trying to understand the bike and the Bridgestone tyres around this incredibly technical circuit has not been an easy task but it is nice that I made it into QP2 and then pick up another place on the grid as well to start from 11th.
At one stage it didn’t even look like I’d make it through to the final qualifying so I’m happy.
I improve each time I go out and to be honest going into QP1 was a benefit for me because it meant I got a few more laps under my belt to understand the track more.
My only goal for the race is to make it to the finish after the crash in Qatar.
I need to gain experience over a race distance and while 21-laps here is going to be really tough, I am really looking forward to it.
”Ben Spies – 12th“I’m not happy at all.
We made some changes to the bike this morning and I kind of went backwards.
I’m pretty disappointed, but realistically, if the bike setting would’ve been good, we only would have been one row ahead, so it doesn’t make a big difference.
We need to look at some data to try to figure it out and get a good start and try to be in the top ten in the race again.
I struggle a little bit in the hard braking zones, but anyway, I’m giving a 100% like always.
”Andrea Iannone – 13th“It was a busy day, and although we improved steadily during the sessions, it wasn’t enough to make it into Q2.
Unfortunately, when I went into Q1, I went slower than my best time, so I didn’t get a good qualifying position.
Anyway, the situation isn’t bad.
I have a hard time on this track, so we have to try to solve our problems in order to improve.
I’m satisfied with the team and with the work that we’re doing.
I’ll give myself some more races to improve, but I hope that soon I’ll manage to take a step forward and go faster.
” Randy De Puniet – 14th“In final free practice I tried my second bike and was happy with the way I was riding.
Throughout the day corner entry was getting easier, the balance is improving and I’m turning much better.
I really pushed to try and make Q2 but just overdid it and rode off line.
That was a shame as I think I could have improved.
Overall I’m pleased with the progress made throughout the weekend and I’m gaining confidence.
We’ll work on braking during the warm up.
Aleix is riding so well, but I’m going to try and catch him as best CRT.
”Colin Edwards – 18th “ The field is so small, everybody sits around and waits and waits to get behind somebody and I vow to myself that I wouldn’t let anyone follow me this year.
Normally I wouldn’t care but the way that the situation is you just can’t let anybody follow you.
I did all I could do.
We had some gearbox trouble today, kept missing a few gears in that free practice time I missed a gear and a big crunch and I think we did damage the chassis.
We have some ideas for tomorrow, so we’ll take advantage of the warm-up and see what we can do.
”Claudio Corti – 19th “At the end of the day things are looking ok, we have been able to get laps under 2´09.
00, managing to get in laps on 2´08.
79 and our goal was to get there today.
I was hoping to do better, would have wanted to use bike 1 during qualifying but we set a drastic modification on it and ended up using bike 2.
I was hoping to get my lap times on the lower 2´08s range to be honest but I have seen that I have a consistent race pace, the race is long and the tires seem to be holding us well so we will have to see tomorrow how the race goes.
”Danilo Petrucci – 20th “We have solved almost all the problems we had yesterday.
This morning we found a good set up and then we were able to develop the electronics.
This morning we worked with used tires and we noticed how the old rubber does not make much difference with a new one that’s because there is not much grip on track.
I’ve wanted to do two laps for each new tyre and for this I came out immediately searching for a good lap time.
We managed to do 4 good laps but we could also make a fifth.
The team is doing a good job to solve all the problems we encountered in these days.
The race will be tricky, however, this is not a very suitable track to my bike and my riding style, the changes of direction are strong and will be tough.
I hope to have a good pace and maybe to score some points.
”Bryan Staring – 22nd “I’m not happy because I still haven’t worked out the fastest way around this incredible track.
I don’t have the right line and speed through the corners and we’re struggling.
At the end we also got taken out by Karel Abraham so that didn’t help but tomorrow we’ll try to get a good start and finish with a respectable result.
”Lukas Pesek – 23rd “Today was a complete disaster.
We have chosen the wrong path in the set up.
Compared to yesterday we decided to change everything, we used the bike with the best engine but the electronic settings we had on the old machine did not fit this bike.
We started from scratch this morning and we lost the job done yesterday for not getting results.
For this reason we did not do many laps.
We worked a lot and at the end of the bike was not very powerful and that’s why I also upset and we were not able to do any good results.
”
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