Despite riding injured, Red Bull KTM Ajo rider goes third fastest on Friday at Brno Circuit. Arthur Sissis places fourteenth and Zulfahmi Khairuddin twenty-fourth.

The World Championship has returned to Europe for the tenth round of the year in Moto3. On the first day of the event, Luis Salom battled against an injury to his left foot and placed amongst the top three fastest of the day, with a time of 2:08.877.  Arthur Sissis —fourteenth— and Zulfahmi Khairuddin —twenty-fourth— undertook their first setup changes for the Czech Republic GP.

On Wednesday he was diagnosed with a partial break of the heel of his left foot, from the crash suffered last Saturday in Indianapolis. This did not prevent Luis Salom from riding his KTM in practice on Friday. He took part in the opening session and also placed second in it, with a 2:09.506 lap 17 milliseconds off the top spot —the fastest time. His teammate Arthur Sissis —2:10.721— entered the top ten while Zulfahmi Khairuddin was twenty-first —2:12.058—.

The second free practice session of the day saw Salom able to lead part of the runout. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider saw himself capable of improving his times, but late traffic prevented that in the end. Like the current leader of Moto3, Sissis —2:10.682— and Zulfahmi Khairuddin —2:11.044— also lowered their morning times. However, the latter crashed at Turn 7 with three minutes remaining, preventing further progress.

Tomorrow will see the starting grid for Sunday decided. Last year, the qualifying session was good for Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Luis Salom, with first and second row starts, respectively.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)
1. Maverick Viñales (KTM) 2:08.504
2. Alex Marquez (KTM) 2:08.543   +0.039
3. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.877   +0.373
4. Alex Rins (KTM) 2:09.159   +0.655
5. Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) 2:09.412   +0.908
14. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:10.682  +2.178
24. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:11.044  +2.540

Luis Salom >> Audio
“Today was a positive day of practice. My foot still hurts a lot and although it is a little less inflamed, when I have to change gears is when I suffer most. This is the situation and we cannot do anything but work hard and wait to see how the pain goes. Regarding the bike, I’m happy, we are improving a lot, everything is working pretty well. On Sunday I will see if I need an injection or not, but so far today I have not received one. I want to thank all the doctors who treated me, both in Indianapolis and here in Brno, because without their help I could not ride with the severe pain in my foot. I am also grateful to the whole team, as they are doing a very good job and can help make it an important week for me.”

Arthur Sissis >> Audio
“The first session went better than the second. I felt pretty good on the bike this morning but in the afternoon the track was hotter and had more grip. I had a problem with the front end with used tyres, so we changed to the new ones. The last run did not go as we wanted, but I’m calm and confident that tomorrow we can lower our times from today, and we know what we need to improve. The goal tomorrow is to be among the top ten in the qualifying session and I would like be on one of the first three rows of the grid.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin >> Audio (English) // Audio (Malaysian)
“Today was not our best day. We tried to find the best set-up possible, but the feeling was the same all the time. Furthermore, in the second session I crashed and did not improve. The crash was heavy, but I was lucky not to be hurt. Anyway, the team is working to find solutions and I will give my all to get a good lap riding alone.”

*Audio solely for radio use