It was a special day that awaited Loris Baz and the Avintia Racing team today in Argentina. This morning, on a much cleaner track than Friday, the French driver managed to get within a second of the reference time.
At the start of the afternoon, the last free practice session was interrupted by a red flag. However, Baz remained focused. In Q1, hampered in his fast lap, he climbed into third position, failing to progress to Q2 by only a handful of thousandths.
Despite the rain which is expected to appear tomorrow, the Frenchman is delighted with this second day of the Argentine Grand Prix. He is aiming for the Top 10 in the race when he takes the checkered flag.
« I'm a little disappointed not to have been able to progress to Q2. I was slightly hampered by Pol Espargaro on my fast lap.
Given the circumstances, this day was positive. In addition to being unwell and on antibiotics, we had some problems being consistent today. Likewise, Scott Redding exploding his tire right in front of me brought back memories, which was not there to reassure me. Ultimately, Q1 went well and we found a good rhythm on the bike. I opted for the hard tire (front and rear) which I prefer to the medium tire. It is more consistent over several laps compared to the medium which is more aggressive and quite difficult to control. This is the best qualifying of my career in MotoGP and we have the means to achieve a good result tomorrow.
Obviously, there were ways to do better since my time in Q1 would have placed me around 10th place in Q2. But I'm still really satisfied.
Tomorrow, if it rains, it will be a big discovery for me. I have never ridden this bike in the wet. As far as I know, this is one of the tracks that slips the most in the wet. My goal will be to get into the Top 10. Above all, the main goal will be to finish the race and learn as much as possible on a very demanding track like this."
