Simply the Bez
A practically perfect Friday of practice for Aprilia at the Buriram circuit, where FP1 and especially the first Practice of this championship took place during the Italian morning. The one who impressed the most was undoubtedly Marco Bezzecchi, the fastest in both sessions and capable not only of putting four-tenths on the reigning world champion Marc Marquez in Practice, but also of setting a new record for the Thai track that had stood for two years.
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The changes
An impeccable performance, therefore, by the rider from Rimini, who will thus be able to fight for pole position without going through Q1: “Due to the track conditions in the afternoon we had to change our plans at the last moment and, fortunately, the team was able to react very quickly – commented #72 – this allowed us to achieve the most important goal of this day: direct access to Q2. On pace we are not doing badly, but we must continue to work.”
Martin also in Q2
A flawless day for Bezzecchi and also positive for his teammate Jorge Martin. In a virtual front row in FP1, followed by a fifth position in Practice, the Spaniard also secured a direct spot in Q2: “I felt good – he declared – I was able to make more set-up adjustments compared to the tests, where obviously we had to focus mainly on testing. The afternoon was more complicated than the morning because a few drops of rain fell and we had to move up the time-attack. I set my time alone, without using the slipstream of other riders, and that is a positive aspect because last year I struggled in this situation.”
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Another Aprilia in the top 10
Performances that, together with Ai Ogura’s 9th place, contributed to forming a top 10 with three Aprilias present: “A good start with three riders qualified directly for Q2, a sign of the excellent confidence with the bike from Marco, Jorge and also Ai – concluded Race Manager Paolo Bonora – there is still something to refine for Raúl, but we are confident. We must remain cautious and continue to work constantly to improve. In Buriram the main challenge will be to manage the tires as best as possible and the uncertainty of the weather“.
