MAVERICK GETS INTO THE TOP TEN ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IN ARAGÓN

ALEIX IS FAST STRAIGHT AWAY IN THE MORNING (TOP TIME IN FP1) BUT A CRASH IN FP2, HIS SECOND OF THE DAY, KEEPS HIM OUT OF THE TOP TEN FOR NOW

Aprilia was fast straight away on the first day of testing in Aragón but only Viñales made it – rather easily – into the top ten. After working hard on his bike during the morning session, partly to address the problem with poor grip in the first session, Maverick demonstrated great speed in FP2, especially with the medium tyre, which is the one that will probably be used the most in the race. He was unable to improve enough with the soft tyre to take back the top time he had provisionally obtained in the session, but he had no trouble making it into the top ten with the seventh best time of 1’47.678.

The opposite was true for Espargaró who was extremely fast at the beginning, so much that he finished the morning FP1 session with the best time, in spite of a crash. Aleix was also fast straight away in the second session but, just as he was doing his best provisional lap (with the best partial time after the mid lap point), he crashed again. Once again, there were no consequences for the rider, but the second bike change in one day kept him out of the top ten. He finished thirteenth with a time of 1’47.951.

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
"It was a positive day in spite of a couple mistakes – the first because I was off my line and hit the dirty part of the track. For the second one, I was pushing to the limit but unfortunately I didn’t have any new tyres afterwards, so I missed the session. However, we were fast with the race tyres both in the morning and in the afternoon. In FP2 I was doing a good time too. Of course, it would be better never to crash but we’re pushing hard and trying to give it our all, to be fast, and to be competitive and the poor grip didn’t help. Anyway, a crash in a practice session isn’t important. What really counts is finishing the race at the top."

MAVERICK VIÑALES
"A very positive day. To be honest, I arrived here curious to see how much we would be able to improve from last year. The step forward is incredible – one second in terms of pace is a lot better even on the flying lap, although there was no perfect time attack. This means that we’re working well and in the right direction. We still need to see which tyre will be the best choice here and that, along with taking a spot on the front row of the starting grid, will be the goal for tomorrow."