TYRE WEAR AND RACE PACE ARE THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE

The Friday practice sessions on the Sachsenring, in Germany, had both Aprilias finishing the day with a provisional top-10 position. This result has particular value as it was achieved in spite of concentrating efforts on preparation for the race on Sunday. Thirty laps which, due to the high temperatures predicted, promise to be extremely gruelling.

Aleix shone in both sessions, finishing fourth in the combined standings at a gap of just two tenths. However, by the Granollers native’s own admission, there is plenty of margin to be explored. This will be the clear goal tomorrow, where some time will need to be shaved off in order to go straight through to Q2.

Maverick also performed well, finishing the day eighth. He did a lot of testing and, like his teammate, he took the new aerodynamics solution developed by the Aprilia techs and already tested on the Monday after Barcelona onto the track. 

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
"As for how things went today, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the race straight away and then head off on holiday! All joking aside, we did good work today. Tyre choice and management seem to be particularly important here and, from this point of view, I was able to be fast on the hard rear. I made a few mistakes on the time attack but, despite this, I did three laps at  20.2 and that’s not at all bad. We can improve further but I can consider myself satisfied with this start."

MAVERICK VIÑALES
"I’m pleased above all with the information we were able to gather today. We have already identified a couple of points where we need to improve. I need a bit more stability. I had a good pace on the medium tyre but here, as always, shooting for a qualifying position on the front two rows will be fundamental. The race will be significantly conditioned by this."