As the OR Thailand Grand Prix action resumed in the morning with Free Practice 2 at 10:10 local time (GMT+7), Pol Espargaro continued to show competitive speed as he finished the session in 1’30.966, in P12, but still just 0.416 seconds from the fastest lap, setting up the stage for a competitive qualifying in Thailand! In qualifying one, the Spaniard rode solid laps, and took his fastest lap down to 1’30.124 while red helmets were all over the place on the screen. He continued to push, and was doing an even better last flying lap, but a small mistake in the final corner put an end to his chances of qualifying to the next session. Seventeenth on the grid for a hot Tissot Sprint (forty-nine degrees on the ground), Espargaro took a decent start when lights went out at 15:00 (GMT+7) for thirteen laps. Firstly in P16 after one lap, he was in P14 just in front of teammate Augusto Fernandez the following lap, as the Spaniard set himself up with a solid pace in his early laps. He rode his fastest on lap 3 in 1’30.990, faster than the guys in front of him at the time. Eventually, his teammate overtook him a couple of laps later, shortly before Espargaro started to feel a consequent tyre drop of the rear tyre, which left him uncomfortable on the bike. From there, lap times dropped, and the Spaniard passed the checkered flag in sixteenth today.

As he qualified directly for the first time of the season, that was less track time for the rookie who saw how it feels to sit and watch the rest battle it out for the two hot places in qualifying 1. Good feeling obviously, but an extremely competitive final qualifying stage awaited the rookie at 11:15 local time, as the twelve fastest fought for the pole in Thailand. The rookie rode an impressive lap, his fastest of the weekend in 1’30.077, and he qualified in twelfth on the grid. In the Tissot Sprint, Augusto missed a bit on his start as he dropped two positions within the first lap, and his teammate Pol Espargaro had the better of him the following lap. Lap three while he was behind his fellow GASGAS Tech3 rider was his fastest (1’31.177), a bit far from the potential he had shown at the Chang International Circuit so far. A quick tyre drop appears to have bothered the rookie who felt rapidly on the limit on his burning RC16 in the sprint. As he made a move on his teammate to overtake him, he eyed Joan Mir who was not far, but while he was trying to catch him up, he lost the front and crashed. This is another DNF for the number 37, a massive disappointment, and is not rewarding the rookie who was having a solid weekend so far. There will be some work to do tonight, as Fernandez prepares to fight again on Sunday for the main race of the OR Thailand Grand Prix, at 15:00 (GMT+7).