With the sun shining all day Friday, getting the Grand Prix action underway MotoGP from Australia with good track conditions, something that Phillip Island has not really accustomed the paddock to in recent years, Espargaro Pol got off to a promising start at the Australian meeting, recording his best Friday result in 2023.
Finally decided about his future within the Pierer Mobility group, or even released if we judge by his Thursday morning spent surfing the beautiful waves of Phillip Island with his GASGAS surfboard, the Catalan has resumed the things where he left them in Mandalika after finding a good bike setup on Sunday.
In FP1, this morning it was therefore a question of continuing to develop it without looking for the time, which was done with a P13 at the key, 1.636 seconds behind the leader on a soft rear tire. After a few changes made at lunchtime, the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 driver returned to the track for afternoon tests, with the main objective of getting into the top 10 after taking eleventh place far too often, the latest being last week in Indonesia!
The track conditions being correct (24° in the air, 43° on the ground), it only took him three laps to improve his 1'30.675 in the morning, to 1'29.785.
His session was split into five different runs, as he continued to try different settings and options, while remaining tentatively in the top 10. Finally, with a few minutes left in the session, it was time for fast laps, and number 44 was there today. He set his best lap in 1'28.363 and took fifth place in practice, just 0,420 seconds behind Brad Binder, the fastest man of the day and teammate of Pierer Mobility.
This is for the moment the best result of Espargaro Pol in 2023, and he will be sure to build on it in tomorrow's final qualifying session. Will the Spaniard be able to reach his best grid position of the year? Response Saturday, at 02:30 a.m. from Europe, before a Grand Prix which will take place exceptionally on Saturday due to bad weather conditions forecast for Sunday October 22.
Pol Espargaro : “I've always loved riding here, but today was a really good day for us and I'm really happy with the result. All the drivers are very fast and it is very difficult to perform well and find your place. But I like being here in Australia, our mindset is really positive, and that allowed us to be relaxed and fast today. Of course, we have done part of the work, but the most important thing will be tomorrow. Let's work tonight and try to be as ready as possible for Saturday! »
MotoGP Australia J1: standings
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
