The Aspar Team rookie has been third in the first session in Qatar
American Joe Roberts has started the Moto2 season as the fastest rider. The American, who has been one of the fastest riders during the tests last week, has set the record for the Qatar track with a time of 1:58.421. Teammates Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, second and third today, lay two and three tenths off Roberts. The Spanish Jorge Navarro, the fastest rider of the preseason tests held a few days ago on the Losail track, has finished twelfth.
Aspar Team rider Aron Canet has finished the first day of his Moto2 debut season in provisional Q2 positions. The Valencian, fourteenth today, has not been able to improve his time in the second session of the day, but his afternoon mark (1: 59.215) has earned him the overall fourteenth position. Canet has started the day strongly, with a third position just as the Qatar Grand Prix began. His teammate Hafizh Syahrin lays 1.8 seconds off the best time of the day after not being able to lap the Losail track under 2:00. The Malaysian rider closes the first day in Qatar in the twenty-seventh position but with the clear intention of continuing to improve from tomorrow along with his crew.
14th Aron Canet 1:59.215 (+0.794): “I'm happy with how the two practices went. In the second, the pace was good, but in the first outing the airbag exploded and this has made me lost valuable time. With used tyres we have a good pace and with the new ones the pace is like that of the riders in front. The other problem in this second session has come in the last minute, in my fast lap, when I have found another rider standing in the second sector and I have not been able to make another lap. At the moment, we are in Q2 positions. We are strong in both conditions, in the afternoon and at night, but we will continue trying to improve.”
27th Hafizh Syahrin 2:00.228 (+1.807): “It has been a confusing day and I don't understand why. I know I can be in the front positions and fight. In the test, the second day I was able to make 1:59 laps, but today it was hard for me to get to 2:00 low and I couldn't follow other riders. We will work with the information we have to try to find solutions. I feel like the bike is different, although we are using the same set-up of the test. We are missing something but we’ll keep working non-stop.”
Aspar Team
