The Repsol Honda Team rider, still in pain from a Friday crash, will start from 13th at the German Grand Prix. Stefan Bradl will do so from 18th.
The temperatures increased at Sachsenring on Saturday reaching up to 50ºC on track. The intense heat increased the difficulty of the day for the Repsol Honda Team.
In the first Free Practice session of the day, Pol Espargaró was unable to make it through to Q2. Still hurting from his highside from Friday at Turn 1, he was nevertheless just four tenths off ensuring his presence in the second qualifying session.
With a fastest time of 1:20.604 thousandths, Espargaró will take off from 13th, on Row 5.
Stefan Bradl was also unable to make the cut for Q2. In Q1, the German rider achieved a best time of 1:20.908, earning him 18th place and putting him on the sixth row on the grid.
POL ESPARGARÓ – 15th 1’20.604
“It was a really difficult day today speaking honestly, the pain from my ribs was huge today, I am struggling to breath when on the bike. Hurting anything on your left side at the Sachsenring makes the whole weekend difficult with all the left corners. I was the limit today; I couldn’t push to the maximum with the pain. It’s a real shame and then to miss out on Q2 by such a small margin was disappointing. We should be much faster than we are, but this is the situation and tomorrow we will give everything in the race.”
STEFAN BRADL – 20th 1’20.908
“I am happy with my performance today as we were able to keep improving our speed but it is tough. The lap record of almost every track is being broken every weekend and I am riding the fastest I have ever ridden, even if the final position is not impressive. It’s important to keep focusing on our performance and achieving our objectives each time we head out on the bike. I think we have made a good step with the setup and let’s see what is possible tomorrow, I really want to put on a good race for the home fans.”
