Vierge starts strong at Jerez, 4th on day 1, while Lecuona builds consistency

“Just as we did at Estoril, we started Friday really strong, and I felt good on the bike right away this morning. We stuck to a solid plan and were able to be very consistent in FP1. In the afternoon, we made some small changes to the setup and the temperature went up a lot, but even with used tyres the feeling was still quite good. Once we switched to a new tyre, something felt strange though - I lost the connection with the bike and our pace dropped significantly, not just in one sector but overall. It’s important now to understand what happened between this morning and the afternoon so we can find the right balance for tomorrow. The grip itself wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t carry the same corner speed, and losing seven tenths with respect to FP1 is too much, even considering the conditions. We need to analyse everything carefully and make a step forward for tomorrow.”

“A bit of a difficult Friday for me. I’m still struggling quite a lot with the power in my right arm, and after just a couple of laps I start to lose strength. I tried to manage it as best I could, but it’s quite critical at this physically demanding track, so it wasn’t easy. This morning, I didn’t feel very comfortable as the bike didn’t really feel like “mine”. The feeling improved in the afternoon and was closer to what I like, but even with the new tyre we couldn’t make a real step forward, as the lap times stayed almost the same. We need to understand why and try something different, because right now I’m spending too much energy on things I shouldn’t. My crew chief has some ideas regarding the direction to follow so, hopefully, tomorrow we can find a better balance that allows me to ride more comfortably and manage the race without overloading my arm.”