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MotoGP, Espargaró: It's a pity about the injury, but I am fast

The Spaniard must live with a pinched intercostal ligament, but he is fourth. Lowes is 22nd and thinking positive: "Today I had fun"

MotoGP: Espargaró: It's a pity about the injury, but I am fast

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The fact that Aleix Espargaró is a very fast rider on the flying lap is well known, as is the fact that the Aprilia is a bike that is in constant and excellent development, but on Friday at Silverstone, the Italian – Spanish duo truly flexed their muscles, taking the fourth best time overall ahead of the likes of Marquez and Lorenzo. And all with an extra hurdle to overcome.

Indeed, because Espargaró turned up at the English track with a pinched intercostal ligament that makes breathing difficult after a few laps. “It's a pity about the problem with my ribs that I suffered training with a kart - Aleix explains - In the fast direction changes I suffer a lot and struggle to breathe well. I am working a lot with the Clinic and I hope to be in good conditions for the race.”

He may not be in top physical condition, but he is definitely not lacking speed: “This is one of the tracks where I felt great straight away, The RS-GP really responds well here at Silverstone.” The Spaniard remains under the watchful eye of the mobile clinic, where the rider was advised to dose out his efforts and where they will continue to assess his conditions after FP3 tomorrow morning.

Moving on to Sam Lowes, Silverstone is obviously a special round since it is his home GP, where the number 22 rider wants to cut a good figure: “In FP2 we tried various things to find the right direction to go in terms of setup, especially to improve the stability of the RS-GP. I lapped with the hardest tyre and it seems to work well for us.”

There are several positive signals for Sam who, despite his penultimate position of the day, remains positive.

“Many of the riders improved a lot using the soft at the end of the session, so that leads me to believe that we could have been faster in terms of lap times. This morning I didn't have a good feeling, but in the afternoon we improved. I had fun and I think that we'll be able to continue improving tomorrow too.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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