#MotoGP Mixed Fortunes for @AsparTeam duo. #YH68 Top10. #EL50 Crashes #GermanGP #FP
The Sachsenring circuit welcomed the MotoGP World Championship with temperatures around 10 degrees lower than a year ago, a fact that made the first day of the German GP an unpredictable fight to conclude among the top riders. Uncertainty about possible weather changes tomorrow meant a Top 10 finish was potentially crucial for a place in Q2. Only five factory riders managed this, including Maverick Viñales, Andrea Iannone and Marc Márquez -first, second and third on the opening day. Along with them, five privateer competitors were up at the sharp end -four of them riding Ducati bikes. Among them was Pull&Bear Aspar Team rider Yonny Hernández, who rounded out the Top 10.
The Pull&Bear Aspar Team debuted a new livery at the German Grand Prix, to mark the arrival of Pull & Bear as their new main sponsor. This design brought some good luck for rider Yonny Hernández, who took a place among the top ten in both the first and second free practice sessions today. The changeable weather at the Sachsenring circuit means that his tenth position was even more valuable, and puts him provisionally into Q2. The Colombian was less than a second off the fastest rider having lowered his best time by a couple of seconds from session to session. Teammate Eugene Laverty suffered a crash late in the day, escaping unhurt. The Northern Irishman was twentieth overall, completing just 14 laps combined on Friday due to his fall and the weather conditions.
10th Yonny Hernández 1.23.123 (21 laps):“We have started this Grand Prix fairly well; we have a good pace and we finished amongst the top ten in both practice sessions. We go into qualifying with a good setup. I want to do a few more laps tomorrow before choosing which tyre to run in the race. On my final stint I put in ten laps and it seems as if the tyres are behaving rather well, but the race is thirty laps. For this reason, we will do a longer stint tomorrow, of 15 or 16 laps, then make our decision. I want to have everything under control, so let’s hope that it doesn’t rain.”
20th Eugene Laverty 1.24.911 (14 laps): “The track temperature is twenty degrees lower this year than it was last year so obviously that has had a big effect on grip. I think Michelin have brought the correct tyres, but the weather has brought the wrong temperatures! I tried the intermediate tyre today and even though it was hard to get the bike turned at full lean the lap time was only around six tenths off the guys on slicks so if it is colder or damper tomorrow we know it is an option that we can use. I crashed in turn one, which is one of only a couple of right-handers here, although I am glad it was there rather than turn eleven where a few riders went off. It is hard to know what to do to make that corner safer, other than introduce another right-hand corner somewhere else, but there is no room here! We have a big bike with a strong engine so it was always going to be hard to make it work at this track. We have to keep trying tomorrow”.
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