The second classified in the MotoGP World Championship, Aleix Espargaró, could only be 11th at the end of the first day of free practice of the Austrian Grand Prix , a position that commits him to go directly to Q2, since the forecasts do not rule out that it will rain and it was difficult to improve the times in FP3 on Saturday morning.
In part, this lack of speed was only corrected in the last part of training, and not enough, was due to the implementation of the new chicane between turns 1 and 3, a modification that, however, had the approval of the from Aprilia.
“They have done a very good job with the chicane, it is much safer than the previous curve and although they are two different asphalts they have done well and the grip is not so different”, Aleix evaluated the change.
However, the Spanish rider could not clearly verify to what extent the speed of the motorcycle benefits or harms.
“I don’t know, it hurts me because I’m not able to understand how to do the chicane, but that doesn’t mean the bike is going bad. Today I wasn’t brilliant until the end, I was able to get three tenths closer to the best, so I am confident that tomorrow I can improve. But the truth is that I have not quite understood how to go fast on this circuit”, he admitted without funnels.
It is understood that if he improves his passing through this point, the second overall may be at the level of the fastest.
“I’m three tenths from the first, so if I manage to improve my pace by that point I’m not telling you that I could be in the top 10, but that I could be the first perfectly. I have no doubt that if I improve a little tomorrow we will be there , in sector three and four I am nothing from the first, so I can be among those in front”.
Interestingly, while Aleix hasn’t quite got the trick of the chicane, his teammate Maverick Viñales has been able to.
“He does the chicane better than I do, but he suffers more in, let’s say, normal sectors, such as three and four, but it can serve as a reference for me.”
But Aleix wanted to insist that it had been his problem.
“I have tried to go through the chicane in three different gears, halfway through training I asked the technician we have on the track where I had to brake. But today I have not been well at the driving level, I have not been able to understand it, to sometimes you catch it fast and other times you need more laps”.
The detail that cannot be overlooked after this first day is the power of Ducati with seven bikes in the top eight.
“It’s funny because this summer I read an interview with a Ducati rider and he said it was a shame that this year they couldn’t race as much and make a difference. Well, you see. They are doing a very important job, with many teams, taking care of the youngsters are doing very well. Nothing is a coincidence, and when there are eight guys in front of them, they are doing well”, settled the one from Granollers.
