Aleix Espargaró: "We have come very close to the factory bikes"

The Power Electronics Aspar riders in the MotoGP World Championship, Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet, remain the favourites in their own private war with the CRT machines at the Assen Circuit. Today the Catalan was the best of this sub-championship and also finished just 1.7s off the fastest rider, so the development of these CRT bikes is very interesting.

Behind them came the Frenchman, not far behind his teammate, 0.256s off the lap time of number 41, and with both riders completing the same number of laps, that is 39 laps in these free practice sessions held today at the Assen Circuit.

The two are working very hard with their respective ARTs. Espargaró is clearly happy with the development of his MotoGP bike, but he knows there is still a long way to go; for his part, the Frenchman is not as happy, but he will not stop working for a moment, as he wants to be the best CRT.

Now it is time for FP3 and qualifying.

Statements from Aleix Espargaró 1:36.615 (39 laps):

Since the first race we have been improving; the bike gets better every time and that makes me ride very comfortably. I also really like this track. We have barely made any changes to the setup we used at Silverstone, and we probably won’t make any changes tomorrow either. I feel very good, I feel one with the bike, we have been riding hard and we have come very close to the factory bikes.

It’s a bit bold to say, but we are finding the limits of this bike; it is giving us a lot, and for now that is everything it can offer. I have completed three consecutive laps behind Bradl and Valentino, who were only taking three tenths per lap from me. The ART has a magnificent chassis, but we still need to find a bit more power.

Statements from Randy De Puniet 1:36.871 (39 laps):

Today we tested several chassis configurations, we tried making changes from the base, and it seems the tests have paid off. We found several solutions this morning, and in the afternoon we kept making changes to try to improve rear traction, and to soften the movements, specifically when the tyre’s performance drops.

We also improved in the afternoon, both at the rear and at the front. Now we will need to adapt to the changes, since it’s a little harder to turn the bike, but I’m happy because we have found the right direction to work in. My fastest time came on the hard compound. We are satisfied, but as always we have to keep working to find the best possible setup.

Source | Power Electronics Aspar