by VALERIO BARRETTA
Aprilia, two RS-GPs in the top-4
Friday in Assen had Francesco Bagnaia as its absolute protagonist, first in both FP1 and testing, but at team level he impressed Aprilia. The Noale company placed two drivers in the top-4 and three in Q2: Maverick especially shone Viñales – fifth in FP1 and second in the practice sessions, 65 thousandths behind “Pecco” -, the Spaniard showed competitiveness on the flying lap and above all a great pace that places him among the favourites for qualifying together with the “three tenors” Bagnaia-Martin-Marquez.
Also for Aleix Spargarofourth at the end of the tests, was a great day, unfortunately closed with a very dangerous highside at the last chicane. A lot of fear and a lot of pain for the Catalan, who was taken to the medical center, where they found no fractures but only a contusion in the sacrococcyx area.
Viñales’ words
“I feel like I’m at a very high level“, this is Viñales’ comment. “In terms of riding, I feel very good on the bike and I was able to express the potential of the RS-GP24 to the fullest. My time is under the circuit record, so we have improved a lot compared to last year too. I am very satisfied with the race pace and I think that we have an excellent opportunity ahead of tomorrow“.
Espargaró’s words
“It’s a shame about the crash because the day was going well up until that point“, added Espargaró. “I feel comfortable on the bike, even if this is not an easy track due to the high speeds and the aerodynamic load which adds more weight to the front. Overall, I’m happy, though I have a lot of pain in my lower back and neck. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it could have been“.
#MotoGP #Assen #Aprilia #Vinales #great #chance
