MotoGP: Espargaro: 'Our best Friday so far!'

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Pol Espargaro impressed as action got underway at the 2017 British Grand Prix, taking the KTM RC16 the seventh fastest time of the day on its first visit to Silverstone.

The stunning trellis-framed machine has improved round by round and achieved two top ten results in the last two races in the hands of Espargaro and KTM test rider Mika Kallio.

After setting the 13th quickest time this morning despite suffering with electronics issues, Espargaro improved his pace by almost two seconds to provisionally earn a direct pass to Q2.

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“The bike has been getting better in the last races and what we are discovering is that it’s not just the track that is good for us,” he said. “We’re going to different tracks and the bike is keeping pace and this is important.

“I think this has been our best Friday so far. This track is quite tricky, so I’m happy. We managed to set up all the electronics in a good way this morning and this afternoon they were fixed. The track is bumpy, so it is not easy to ride the bike and you need to understand how to do it. The rider probably has more importance than the bikes on day one but everything could change by FP4!”

Pick up this week’s MCN for a 32-page British Grand Prix special, including exclusive interviews, the best places to watch, what makes a perfect GP bike and more! 

Oli Rushby

By Oli Rushby

Former sports reporter covering British Superbikes, World Superbikes and road racing