Viñales straight through to Q2 on Friday in Portimão

ESPARGARÓ, FOURTEENTH, WILL HAVE TO BATTLE IN Q1

Good performance for Maverick Viñales, who managed to go straight through to Q2, despite a bout of gastroenteritis that impacted his condition. The Spanish rider impressed, demonstrating excellent race pace and a good feeling on this track. 

It was a complicated day, on the other hand, for Aleix Espargaró due to a crash without consequences toward the end of the session. On his final time attack, the Spanish rider was doing an outstanding time, but the yellow flag kept him from moving up in the standings, relegating him to fourteenth place. 

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
"With the second bike, after the crash, I was extremely fast, especially in T1, but the yellow flag due to another crash unfortunately  held me up. The bike is working well – today was my mistake. I’m optimistic about tomorrow and I’m certain that we’ll be able to battle for the positions that count.” 

MAVERICK VIÑALES
“Sensations were outstanding in spite of my physical condition which kept me from riding as I would have liked. In any case, we were able to do an excellent session and I am highly motivated for tomorrow. We tried various configurations on the bike, especially in terms of settings, and everything worked well.”