A CRASH KEEPS MAVERICK FROM IMPROVING
As if the unstable weather wasn’t enough, with the rain constantly threatening to reshuffle the deck for MotoGP on Friday at the Sachsenring, the riders also had to deal with a heated finale for the second session. First, a few yellow flags cancelled out the time attack attempts, and then a red flag brought things to a halt just over three minutes ahead of the chequered flag.
At the restart, Aleix had to reckon with two used tyres in order to properly manage the new tyres available. Before a garage left speechless by the tension, the rider from Granollers once again showed his true character, finishing an extraordinary lap and placing in the top 3.
Maverick suffered the consequences initially of a few yellow flags which hindered his time attack and then he fell victim to a crash without any physical consequences. Once back out on the track, he lacked the time to complete the final lap, so he’ll have to fight through Q1 to go through to Q2 tomorrow.
Aleix
"When I realized that I couldn’t use any other new tyres for my time attack after the red flag, I had almost given up. Instead, on my last flying lap, I gave one hundred percent, doing a time that surprised even me! It was fundamental because we have seen just how important qualifiers are and going straight through to Q2 is our first goal achieved. I don’t have a fantastic pace, but it’s also true that I didn’t turn a whole lot of laps today, a bit because of the track conditions and a bit to avoid fatiguing my foot. We’ll work on it tomorrow."
Maverick
"To be honest, I had hope to go straight through to Q2. We worked rather well today and I felt good on the bike. Unfortunately, however, I was unable to find the right feeling with the first to sets of soft tyres. When I put on the third set, the level of grip at the rear increased suddenly and that’s what caused the crash. We’ll try to analyse what happened further because, in general, I feel ready for qualifying tomorrow. We have a good chance of recovering and going through to Q2."