FP3 125cc: Terol joy and fear in Indianapolis

From 15:15 to 16:00 we paid close attention to the last free practice sessions for the 125cc, where we continued somewhat along the lines of yesterday. There were problems for quite a few riders due to the asphalt.

The best time was achieved by the Alcoy rider, Nico Terol, who set a time of 1:49.032, faster than yesterday’s and which he achieved in the slipstream of another rider. Despite this, he set it 3 minutes before the end, so we understand that this time could have been improved slightly more; in other words, he could have been the only one to go under 1:48.

Behind Zarco and Cortese, both 3 tenths behind Nico, they are very fired up and will put Nico’s title at risk whenever possible.

Riders in the small category always have the handicap of going out first and finding the least grip each day, whether due to temperature or because there isn’t as much rubber laid down on the track.

As for our riders, there have been many problems. Moncayo was the first of ours with problems, when nobody was setting times. “El Tigre” kept improving himself lap after lap, and after setting a 1:50.621 that stood at the top for more than 5 minutes, he most likely crashed when he went off the line, he had to go to the medical center and a broken collarbone was confirmed. It’s a shame, because he was doing great this weekend.

And it must be taken into account that if the riders are complaining about the asphalt in the clean area, the dirty one must already be impracticable.

As for Team Aspar, apart from Nico setting the best time, on the very next lap his engine stopped, and they still don’t know why. Héctor Faubel suffered a crash but got up quickly and returned to the track, finishing in sixth position. Adrián Martín finished tenth, continuing his progression.

Another who also fell was Danny Webb, who left his mudguard in the middle of the track, and several riders had to avoid it when they were coming through on a fast lap. One of them was Sergio Gadea, who spent the whole session pulling Maverick until they decided to ride separately, finishing eighth and fourth respectively. Viñales never stops amazing us with his ease in adapting to a new track, where in few laps he manages to get the time.

It’s worth noting that Terol has been left very worried because he sees problems piling up that he can’t overcome, and we hope they won’t distract him so he can fight for the world championship in perfect condition.

The problems happening stem from material fatigue. Aprilia no longer makes spare parts, or if it does, they are scarce. It isn’t profitable to make spare parts for a category that is going to disappear. There are ways to study material fatigue, but failure can’t always be avoided.