Difficult qualifiers, but good pace for the Aprilias on the scorching asphalt

Posted on Jun 15, 2019 by Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

The grip conditions on the Spanish Montmelò track did not improve during the second day of practice, complicated by asphalt temperatures reaching 50°C in the afternoon. For the Aprilia riders, this meant working in anticipation of the race on tyre choices and the best setup for tomorrow’s 24 laps.

In FP4, the most indicative session from this point of view, Andrea and Aleix both started with used tyres, demonstrating a rather consistent pace over the long distance. Bradley, on the other hand, assessed the two solutions, soft and medium, in order to gather as much informations as possible. 

Unfortunately, the results they had hoped for did not arrive in qualifying, with Aleix having to settle for sixth row and Andrea forced to abort his second outing due to a technical problem with the ride-by-wire on his RS-GP. So, it is looking like it will be a race from behind for the Aprilia trio, on the hunt for a top-10 finish.

Bradley Smith:
"From a performance point of view, today was a good day. The situation in terms of tyres is still a bit complicated. A lot of riders seem to be leaning toward the soft rear, but the choice is not so clear. We are still struggling in acceleration, especially when the asphalt heats up, but overall, I have a good feeling. Now we’ll analyse the data from all three riders. We already have a few ideas that we want to test in warm-up."