At times, the brilliant Czech is capable of achieving extraordinary results. Nobody has forgotten this year his start from the middle of the first row of the grid at Termas de Río Hondo during the Argentine Grand Prix, between Marc Marquez in pole position and Cal Crutchlow.
It was no coincidence, as his seventh place in the race at Assen later confirmed. This Friday at MotorLand, he was calmly getting his bearings on a wet track with the fourteenth fastest time in the first morning session.
In the afternoon, he caused a surprise by being the fastest of all the drivers in the second section, ahead of the entire field! And he was not to be outdone in the fourth sector where he set the second time. It was brilliant and earned Abraham the fifth time in the general classification.
In the dry, the task will of course be much more difficult for Karel, but we must not forget that in the past the Aragonese route has been quite successful for him. He finished eighth in testing in 2011 and ninth in the race in 2012, already on a Ducati, then in the colors of his father's team Cardion AB Motoracing.
For Karel Abraham, “ I'm really happy because I was worried about having another wet day after Misano… and just before the first free practice session it started to rain! I went on slicks to try to get at least a good time, but it was already too wet.
“The first outing with the wet tires wasn't so good, maybe I was a little nervous after the last race, but the second and third outings went well.
“For the second session the track conditions varied a lot and every time I returned to my pit I lost a few positions, but we did well and in the last outing we had a tactical special which allowed us to achieve a good lap.
“I felt good and we finished in the top five to help the atmosphere in the garage and the team spirit. If it rains tomorrow, we've done a good job towards qualifying for Q2, so I think everyone deserves to be really happy with the work we've done today. »
Results of the first day of free practice:
1- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’59.858
2- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.214
3- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.462
4- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.601
5- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.613
6- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.624
7- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 0.727
8- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.104
9- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1.157
10- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.184
11- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.245
12- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 1.291
13- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.492
14- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 1.613
15- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.634
16- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.658
17- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.774
18- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.887
19- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.952
20- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 2.059
21- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 2.219
22- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 2.534
23- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 2.819
24- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 3.077
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 199 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 199
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 183
4 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 157
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 150
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 110
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 95
8 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92
9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 90
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 62
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 54
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 53
14 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 43
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 39
16 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 33
17 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 31
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 28
19 Alex RINS-Suzuki 27
20 Tito RABAT-Honda 27
21 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 23
22 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 18
Photos © PULL&BEAR ASPAR Team MotoGP
