Espargaro and Smith to leap forward from fourth row at Argentina Grand Prix

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro will charge from 10th on the grid after pulling off a resolute qualifying campaign at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo. The 25 year old started his day by just missing out on QP2 by 0.070, yet, he remained fully focused and leapt into gear when qualifying one began. Here, he confidently posted a best lap which clinched 2nd and saw him safely through to the proceeding shootout. When QP2 began, the Spaniard surged forward and after gathering pace, he eventually scored a time that left him only 0.382 from the second row. Meanwhile, Bradley Smith will commence the second round of the 2016 World Championship two places behind his teammate after producing a determined effort in Argentina. The young Briton kicked off today by finishing FP3 in 13th, yet he forcefully topped the time sheets in Q1 with a time of 1'40.552 that allowed him to graduate straight through to the second practice. Here, Smith pushed onwards and set his personal best on the third lap, but his hopes of cutting this time further were halted when he fell at turn 1, in the final minutes of the session. However, the British star aims to undertake a rocket start tomorrow and join the battle for the top independent bike position in what will be a challenging race in the 25 lap Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina.
Pol Espargaro
Position : 10th	Time : 1'40.654	Laps : 8
"Today I can’t be too pleased with the final result because we were aiming to qualify higher up the field, but at the end of the day, 10th is not bad when you consider how challenging the track was. Of course, if I set a lap time that was only one tenth quicker, I could have been on the row in front, which was my target, but a lot of riders crashed and the important thing for me is that I did not. It would have been very risky, so now we will have to make the most of it and move forward in the race tomorrow. For sure, many things will change; the grip as well as the temperature and 25 laps is a long time, therefore we will see what happens. However, we still have some more work to do and we will use the warm up to retest a few factors and then make a decision about the tyres. In any case, my aim remains to fight in and hopefully win the top independent bike battle."
Bradley Smith
Position : 12th	Time : 1'40.893	Laps : 5
"All in all, it was a bit of a disappointing QP2 after the successful session that we had before. The team found a few small changes at the end of FP4 which we used in qualifying and which helped us to make a good step. I did a really good job in QP1, so I was confident for the later practice, but I didn’t get to take advantage of the hard rear tyre in the final part. This was due to the fact that I locked the front going into turn one. It’s not anyone’s fault but I was just trying to push a bit too hard and I lost the front. It’s a big shame because if we look at the ideal lap times from both qualifying sessions, it’s clear to see that we could have been on the third row, which would have made everything easier for the race. However, it didn’t happen so we must ensure that we get a good start. The GP will be long and the tyres will play a critical part, but above all, I must not make any mistakes and find a good rhyme to feel comfortable with as I want to finish strongly.”