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Finishing outside the Top 10 does not please any rider, and Fermin Aldeguer is no exception. Having completed the Sepang tests with the 11th quickest time set yesterday, which put him 1" behind his teammate Alex Marquez, Friday's leader, left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Team Gresini rookie, who is convinced that he has the potential to do better than what transpires from the timesheets.
Irrespective of the position in the ranking, however, the young Spanish rider can be galvanized by the excellent growth shown on the Desmosedici GP24, with which he will tackle this his first season in MotoGP. Despite being only at the beginning of his adaptation to the premier class, Fermin has managed to make steady progress, as also demonstrated by the Sprint Race simulation held yesterday. In which the Ducati rider was able to lap consistently in 1'58 pace, just as his crew chief Frankie Carchedi wanted.
"Yes, I do what he tells me! - commented Aldeguer laughing - It was important to do this sprint simulation also to see the differences with the simulation I had done in the Shakedown. I took a big step forward, but there is still a long way to get to the top. As we keep working we will definitely get there."
The premises are very encouraging. "Yes, if we make a comparison with the Sprint race that was run at the Grand Prix, my simulation was very positive," he noted, "There are a lot of good things, but a lot of people did good simulations, and we still have about 3 or 4 tenths of a step forward to go. It's not a huge one, it's normal, because I've only been lapping six days here with the MotoGP and you have to get there little by little."
In what areas were you able to improve from the simulation done in the Shakedown?
"I improved in experience, but also in lap time, pace and speed. As I said, you have to work and lap, the times come," replied Fermin, who is clear about the areas where he needs to make progress: "I still have a lot to learn about the use of electronics and also about tire management.I am doing very well, but now it is important that I use the tires more. This is good, because it means we have margin."
Despite once again being the best of the rookies at the end of the day, the Ducati rider expected to have a slightly smaller gap from the frontrunners.
"Yes, because my feeling on the bike was better than my times. Today, however, we had to change the plan we had to test the bike and so I couldn't use all the tires I had to do the time attack," he explained, "When I did the lap, I found myself a rider in the middle and I still have a lot to understand and learn to take advantage of the Michelin tires on the first lap. I still have some work to do from that point of view, however, I managed to do three or four laps on the 1'57"4 and that's a good result. In the end, it was not the best not being able to use all the tires, but we still have to be happy because being close to the top five is a good thing. Then we'll see what happens next."
Looking ahead to the first race of the year, to be held at the end of the month in Thailand, the Spanish rider feels he is well prepared physically. After completing a total of about 250 laps of the Sepang circuit.
"Yes, after six days here my head and body are exhausted, but I have the physique! - he assured - From what point of view do I feel most tested? Mentally, because at the end of the day it's a matter of lapping for six days on the same circuit. You make progress, but you are always faced with walls to knock down, and that fries your head."
