FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS CONTINUE TO CONSOLIDATE
Both days of qualifying for Portuguese GP provided an intense
taster of what is to come at the second round of the season
at Estoril tomorrow. After just one day of prior contact with
this circuit, unlike some of their rivals who recently tested
here, the two FORTUNA HONDA riders completed a positive day
of qualifying today. Barberá and Lorenzo belied their
youth and inexperience with a day of hard work and dedication
as they prepare for their second race in the class tomorrow.
Barberá, fifth fastest, heads the second row of the
grid just four tenths off pole position whilst Lorenzo is
at the other end in eighth place. It gives both riders a chance
of starring in the race as they did at Jerez last week.
Héctor Barberá (80):
(Free practice 2: 1.42.067, 6º - 24 laps).
(Qualifying practice 2: 1.41.597, 5th).
Héctor was worried about the weather this morning
as any sign of rain would have blown his chances of improving
on ninth on the grid. Luckily that wasn’t the case and
Barberá again showed signs of great things despite
running into traffic on several occasions.
“We’re closer than ever to pole, which gives
me maximum motivation. I’m as happy with the result
as I am with the work done by the team. We’ve got things
very clear and the objective for tomorrow is to go for everything.
A couple of riders got in my way more than they should have
done but that’s not important. I don’t care whether
I am on the first or second row – what counts is my
desire to do well, which is massive”.
Jorge Lorenzo (48):
(Free practice 2: 1.42.096, 7º - 29 laps).
(Qualifying practice 2: 1.42.585, 8th).
Jorge Lorenzo wasted no time in improving his lap times from
yesterday. He was one of the first riders to make quick progress
and if he can improve his start from the race at Jerez there
is no doubt that he has the pace to stand out.
“I’ve improved a couple of things from Jerez,
but I need to adapt my riding style even more if I want to
go places in this category. I went better this morning than
I did in the afternoon – perhaps my nerves are getting
the better of me. I prefer to set my lap times on my own rather
than stick to the back of another rider – I get more
satisfaction from doing it that way, on my own, than thanks
to others. I also have to learn to make better use of my qualifying
tyres because at the moment I’m still faster on race
tyres”.
Circuit: 4.182 m.
Race: 11.15h / 26 laps.
Record: Toni Elías, 04’ (1.41.956)
Pole 2005: Randy de Puniet (1.41.104)
Pole 2004: Dani Pedrosa (1.41.417)
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