Luis Salom leads first session and concludes day fourth fastest overall. Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin improve in afternoon for eleventh and nineteenth best times, respectively.

Almost straight after the previous race, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders were back on their bikes today to begin the British Grand Prix. The opening day ended with the team feeling positive. Still riding injured, Luis Salom was fastest in the opening session and fourth in the combined standings for the day. Arthur Sissis, eleventh, and Zulfahmi Khairuddin, nineteenth, also kicked off their weekend of riding.

Salom pushed hard from the opening minutes of the morning session, showing no adverse effects of the fracture to his foot. The Red Bull KTM Ajo led the way in a session which featured fine rain with nine minutes remaining. The track was not sufficiently dampened to halt Salom, riding by himself, from briefly setting a new circuit record with a 2:15.911 lap. Arthur Sissis —2:19.799— was 22nd, with Zulfahmi Khairuddin 24th —2:19.875—  in a session in which the riders analysed their feel for the track with one eye on the second run-out.

In the afternoon, current Moto3 series leader Salom continued to be one of the top riders on the timesheets. His best lap was set mid-session, with a spectacular 2:15.002. His last stint on track was dedicated to trying out new setup changes. Sissis —2:16.589— lowered his fastest time by more than 3 seconds, whilst Zulfahmi Khairuddin took 2.5 off his previous best for a 2:17.289. Both were satisfied with their setup modifications.

Day 2 of the British Grand Prix takes place tomorrow, with the qualifying session for Sunday’s race held in the afternoon.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)
1. Maverick Viñales (KTM) 2:14.615
2. Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra) 2:14.853   +0.238
3. Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) 2:14.886   +0.271
4. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:15.002   +0.387
5. Alex Marquez (KTM) 2:15.155   +0.540
11. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:16.589  +1.974
19. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:17.289  +2.674

Luis Salom >> Audio
“The first session today went very well and the afternoon session was also good, right up until the final run. We wanted to try a different setting for the chassis and different tyres, and the result was not one with which I was entirely comfortable. There was also a bit of traffic, but overall it was a positive day. My ankle is less swollen and hasn’t been bothering me too much. The pain is still there, but I think I can have another weekend like in the Czech Republic.”

Arthur Sissis >> Audio
“The first session did not go too well. I did not feel as good as last week on the bike and I could not ride at a good pace. We changed some settings for the second free practice session and immediately went faster. On my first lap I went a second faster than in the morning and at the end of the session I improved by more than three seconds, so I’m happy about that. We still have a little bit of a gap to the top guys, but we are working in the right way and I hope that tomorrow we can improve a little more. The goal is the same goal as at Brno: Try to qualify on the top three rows of the grid for Sunday.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin >> Audio (English) // Audio (Bahasa)
“This morning did not go well, but we didn’t change anything with the bike for the second session; I simply took to the track, focused on pushing and I lowered the times by 2.5 seconds. It was a pretty big step forward and now we need to focus on riding, forget about the bike and just ride. We have seen that there are many more things to improve in terms of riding than with the setup. I rode behind others, studying them, focusing on my pace from lap-to-lap, and it turned out well.”

*Audio solely for radio use