Fabio Quartararo, at the Silverstone circuit. /
British GP
The action returned to MotoGP with ten riders in less than half a second on a day dominated by the Frenchman and Joan Mir trailing behind
“This track has a lot of ‘flow’,” explained Joan Mir graphically, second at the start of the British Grand Prix on a circuit, Silverstone, where his Suzuki won in the hands of Maverick Viñales in 2016 and Álex Rins in 2019. «The Suzuki is a motorcycle that is very well balanced. And I think this is a great point in our favour”, continued the Mallorcan, who was 154 thousandths behind Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman is another one who rides a bike that is well managed, because at the moment he is the only one who does it, he also has that ‘flow’, the ability to link curves fluidly, a traditional quality of these two Japanese bikes. Also from the Aprilia, the prototype with which Aleix Espargaró intends to stand up to the current world champion and winner at Silverstone in 2021.
«I have had very good feelings, especially with the race tyre, with which we have been very competitive», analyzed Aleix Espargaró, fifth, just over two tenths behind his rival on a day in which the top ten finished in less of half a second. «With the soft I have not been very brilliant, but there will be time tomorrow. It seems that there is a lot of equality and that is good and favors us, Aprilia », he added. A good sign about the potential of the Italian motorcycle confirmed by the third place of Maverick Viñales, who since he debuted on the podium in Assen has not hidden that one of his objectives is to help his brand become champion, which entails helping Espargaro.
«In 24 corners there will be some that do better than Aleix, there will be others that Aleix does better than me, and that is why it is important to work as a team, to improve those points. You are not always strong at all points of the circuit, but if at the points where you are not strong your teammate is strong you can learn from him and that is the extra tenth you have there. I think that can benefit us a lot. Maybe in one race it doesn’t work, but in another it does. You have to be very disciplined in that aspect », pointed out Maverick Viñales, who was seen in the second training session just in front of his partner to try to do a job between the two. A way of working that is difficult to see in a basically individual sport such as motorcycling, but in the case of Aprilia it is a reflection of the chemistry between the two Spanish riders, once Espargaró was a fundamental piece in the arrival of Viñales to this garage.
Pedro Acosta misses it
“I’m not worried,” Quartararo settled on the problem that it may have to defend himself alone as the only Yamaha against the good work of his rivals. «I have a clear idea and I don’t just look at Aleix; There are more people. In this Grand Prix I don’t focus on Aleix or another rider, I focus on myself, on trying to go as fast as possible on each lap and make the best pace, and in the race we’ll see what happens, “explained the Frenchman. The Frenchman will have the handicap of complying with a long lap penalty at the start of the race, which will force him to take the outer zone (marked) located at turn 14, a step that he began to practice on Thursday and in the which is estimated to lose just over a second. This loss will have more or less weight depending on the race situation at that moment, from what position he faces it and in which he returns to the track.
The day also left a good result in Moto3 for Izan Guevara, second overall, who also finished second and, most importantly for his aspirations, with leader Sergio García far behind in 18th place. Meanwhile, in Moto2 he commanded Augusto Fernández, co-leader and who has just won in Assen, on a day marked by the early confirmation of the absence from the Grand Prix of Pedro Acosta, who finally did not receive permission from the doctors to compete this weekend once that in the last x-ray that was performed early this Friday, the doctors did not clearly see the consolidation of the callus of the fracture of his left femur. The Murcian decided to return home immediately to try to speed up the deadlines for the next appointment on the calendar, the Austrian Grand Prix.
