Karel Hanika and Jack Miller resume preseason testing in Jerez with two of the three fast fastest times of Day 1.

Track temperatures peaking at 24.2ºC greeted the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders on the first day of the last official test of the preseason, held at Jerez. Karel Hanika and Jack Miller used their time well, setting the second -1:47.348- and third -1:47.423- fastest times of the day, respectively. This continues on from their positive work at the last visit to the track, three weeks ago.

Today saw the Red Bull KTM Ajo bikes adorned with their new livery for the first time.  There was also a new testing format, in which Moto3 and Moto2 riders were kept completely separate. Thus, from the first session on, Jack Miller and Karel Hanika enjoyed more than three hours of practice alongside their Moto3 class colleagues.

Although the wind meant that the duo did not improve the times set at the last test at Jerez, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders dedicated the day to trying out new parts for their KTM bikes. Miller, placed amongst the fastest in all three sessions, set his best time in the second runout with a 1:47.423. He later suffered a mechanical issue in the last hour that prevented him from further participation. Rookie teammate Hanika had a small crash at Turn 6, but this would not prevent him from resuming the test and setting his best lap of the day.

Tomorrow the action continues in Jerez, with the second of three scheduled days on track.

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

Jack Miller >> Audio
“It was a good day, not so bad overall. We experimented with a lot of stuff but we couldn’t really find a good setting; the wind was really affecting us a lot. In the last session I had a technical issue, so I had to sit out the rest of the day when we still had some of stuff to try out. However, we still have another 2 days left. We have to improve the feeling with the front a bit in these conditions, but we’re waiting on better weather tomorrow in any case. We’ll see how things go over the remaining days and then head to Qatar.”

Karel Hanika >> Audio
“At the beginning of the day my feeling was not very good. I needed more laps to find a good feeling on the bike and get the speed up. The setting is more or less similar to before; we’ve got different a gearbox so I was working a little bit on that and on my engine braking. We tried a little 10-lap ‘race simulation’ of sorts to see what happened with the tyres and with me, and it was not so bad either.

Today the weather was not perfect; with a lot of wind on track you could see we were losing a lot in the fast corners, where the wind really was pushing. I think the difference is not so big in terms of the lap time, and I also think that if the weather is better tomorrow or the third day the lap times can be faster.

I did my fastest lap alone and I could have done one more lap even faster -but that was the lap in which I crashed. We ran the new livery for the first time today. People like it and we’ve both got some nice numbers, so it’s been good.

I also want to say ‘Get well soon’ to my friend Hafiq Azmi, who I’m sure will be back for Qatar.”

*Audio solely for radio use