Danny Kent and Niklas Ajo debut new livery at final preseason test in Jerez, with fourth and eighteenth best times, respectively.

The last Moto3 preseason test of the year started today at the Circuito de Jerez, with two major developments: The first was the debut of the new Red Bull Husqvarna Factory Racing and Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo liveries, the second a new test format featuring no mixed-class sessions. Danny Kent –fourth, 1:47.494– and Niklas Ajo –eighteenth, 1:48.696– took advantage of warm temperatures to make their final preparations for the season start in Qatar.

Up to three and a half hours of exclusive track time for the Moto3 riders was enjoyed by Danny Kent, Niklas Ajo and their colleagues. With new colours on his Husqvarna bike, Kent started the day strong and was the only man capable of dropping below 1:48 (1:47.958). He would not lower his time in the second session, but on the last runout of the day he set the fourth fastest time for Tuesday: 1:47.494.

Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo rider Niklas Ajo also continued an upward trajectory throughout the day, improving his times in every session. The Finn –like the rest of the field– saw strong winds prevent him from improving his best times from three weeks ago at the Spanish track. In the end, his top lap of 1:48.696 put him eighteenth for the day.
Work with the new Husqvarna FR 250 GP will continue tomorrow with the second day of testing at Jerez.

Combined Standings – Day 1
1. Romano Fenati (KTM) 1:47.242
2. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:47.348 +0.106
3. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:47.423 +0.181
4. Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Factory Racing) 1:47.494 +0.252
5. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 1:47.549 +0.307
18. Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) 1:48.696 +1.454

Danny Kent,
“The first day wasn’t too bad, I think a lot of the riders were affected by the wind, because you can get a good line and then, on the next lap, you try to the same and you can’t make the corner. It’s not been a bad start to the test, we’ve still got two more days to get back to how we were at the last test. The lap times are quite slow, but it’s not a bad start. We saw the new Husqvarna colours today and I really like it. Maybe I’ll have to go slowly in order to keep it looking nice!”

Niklas Ajo,
“This first day saw us quite far back on the times from the last test here, but I’m not stressed about that. At the last test at first I took it quite easily and didn’t take any risks, because I didn’t want to crash and lose all my feel, and that was my strategy here as well. We tested a lot of new settings, so I’m happy with this and tomorrow we will improve. We have new bike colours and a new garage, which is very nice. I like the colour and from the outside it’s really cool.”