IN THE DECISIVE QUALIFYING SESSION MAVERICK, WEAKENED WITH FEVER, GRITS HIS TEETH TO TAKE A NICE SPOT ON THE SECOND ROW

FOURTH ROW FOR ALEIX, STILL A CONTENDER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP PODIUM

The Saturday in Valencia ahead of the final MotoGP championship race was decidedly positive for the Aprilia colours. After some struggles on Friday where both riders were outside the top ten, both Aleix and Maverick regained control of the situation. Aleix began, doing the sixth time in the morning FP3 session which sent him straight through to the qualifiers with the top riders.
Maverick, on the other hand, didn’t manage to go straight through but redeemed himself in the first qualifying round, beating out all his rivals and also going through to the session that decides who will start from the front rows.

Although far from being in his best physical shape due to a fever that tormented him throughout the day, Maverick was able to further improve in the final Q2 qualifying session, doing a fantastic time of 1’29.995 which earned him a spot on the second row of the starting grid (sixth-best time) for the race tomorrow.

Aleix, who had demonstrated even more confidence than his teammate in the morning session, struggled a bit more to do a good lap, finishing with the tenth time (1’30.124). His hunt for a position on the championship podium will start from the fourth row tomorrow as he is currently lying third in the overall standings.

In the race tomorrow, Aprilia Racing will also be chasing a prominent spot both in the Constructor and Team championship standings. In both categories, the Italian manufacturer is currently second – demonstration of their fantastic season and by far the best one yet in Aprilia’s brief history.

Aleix Espargaró
“I must say that we did a really good job between yesterday and today. In fact, I now feel rather good in terms of pace. I was unable to find a good lap in qualifying and that’s a pity because the spot on the starting grid doesn’t fully reflect our level. In any case, I’m optimistic for the race. We’ll do the best we possibly can to finish out this great season.”

Maverick Viñales
"Today was not an easy day for me. Since yesterday I’ve had a fever that has left me rather weak but I still battled and in the end we managed to take a good step forward and, most importantly, we had good qualifiers. It is important for us to continue improving and working. I’ll try to get some rest now and be in good form for tomorrow."