FIFTH ROW FOR ESPARGARÓ AND EIGHTH FOR IANNONE

On the second race weekend of the 2019 MotoGP season, Aleix Espargaró just barely missed out on going through to Q2, finishing third by just 71 thousandths in Q1, which places him in the best spot on the fifth row with the overall thirteenth place time of 1’39.288. Aleix demonstrated that the second qualifying session was within his grasp but, just as he was on his good lap, he had to slow down in the finale because of a slower rider on his line. In any case, the extremely small gap behind second place is a testament to the good potential of Aleix and his RS-GP. From the morning session, after making a few changes to his bike, Andrea Iannone was unable to find the good sensations that had led him to finishing the day yesterday ahead of his teammate. Not even going back to Friday’s settings in view of the decisive session gave Iannone the bike from the first day and the Italian lapped at 1’40.118, stopping at the eighth row of the starting grid for tomorrow. He and his team will now need to analyse the data to understand what happened.

ALEIX ESPARGARO' "We did a good job. In terms of pace, we have the potential to finish in the first eight. Unfortunately, qualifiers complicate things a bit. On my last lap, I was very fast, but I lost a few tenths in the finale and Q2 got away from us. Tomorrow managing grip will be fundamental, as well as tyre wear, because it is particularly high here. From this point of view, we are ready. The second half of the race will be crucial and we are prepared as best as possible. As long as the track is dry tomorrow, which I hope, but especially I would prefer stable conditions, unlike last year."

ANDREA IANNONE "We need to understand what happened. This morning I did not find the same bike as yesterday. We made some changes that did not give us the expected results. To the contrary, we went in the opposite direction and when we went back, we did not re-create the same conditions as Friday. The telemetry data shows it well, so that will help us understand. We are still in our apprenticeship and these things can happen. Tomorrow we’ll need to get back to at least yesterday’s level and find that feeling to make a good start. It’s a pity because we could have battled for much better positions here."