First Moto3 Official Test of the year concludes ahead of schedule for Red Bull KTM Ajo, due to rain and adverse track conditions.

The first three days of official testing in the 2015 preseason was adversely affected by the weather in Valencia. After a positive opening day, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders were faced with rain on Wednesday and showers and oil on track on Thursday.  That led to Miguel Oliveira, Brad Binder and Karel Hanika being unable to complete their planned testing workload.

The trio of Red Bull KTM Ajo riders leave Valencia with the satisfaction of having had a positive first day, in which their feeling and times with the new KTM were very promising. This was the only day of the three that they were able to make full use of, as on Wednesday mixed track conditions and intermittent rain forced them to stay in the garage. Today an oil spill from another rider meant that Olveira, Binder and Hanika were only able to put in two laps in the wet.

Happy with their work so far with the KTM, both in Almería last week and Valencia on Tuesday, the Red Bull KTM Ajo team now head to Jerez -where next week they will undertake three days of Official Test action.

Results – Combined Sessions Day 1-2-3
1. Fabio Quartararo (Honda) 1:39.392
2. Danny Kent (Honda) 1:39.415 +0.023
3. Enea Bastianini (Honda) 1:39.669 +0.277
4. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 1:39.784 +0.392
5. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:39.805 +0.413
7. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:39.982 +0.590
11. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:40.221 +0.829

#44 Miguel Oliveira – Audio
“These two tests have been very positive. Unfortunately, during the three days in Valencia we have not been able to ride as much as we would have liked, because of the bad weather. However, we still take some very positive feelings away from this test from the first day, so we have bear that in mind and not worry too much. We have to go to Jerez and focus on working with the bike and trying to understand it as much as possible.”

#41 Brad Binder – Audio
“The first day was really positive. We worked hard on the bike and found a good setup, and I think we are going in the right direction. I really wanted to go back out again, but I couldn’t ride yesterday because the weather was very bad. Today I had the hope that we would have a dry track and better weather, but it ended up raining all day. This morning I put in a few laps to see how I felt in rainy conditions, and I really enjoyed it. In the afternoon I went back out, but on only the second lap someone spilled oil on the track and I suffered a small crash. It was unlucky, but you cannot do anything about it and sometimes these things happen.

We want analyse some things, like the geometry of the bike and my riding position, to see how can I adapt better, although we are not very far off getting it right because I feel great. The team have been doing an outstanding job, so I can only thank them. Now I am looking forward to Jerez, where hopefully we will have better weather and work in good conditions.”

#98 Karel Hanika – Audio
“The first day went very well; at least we were able to ride. I am very happy because we have improved a lot. We tested different setups, accumulating many miles and trying to familiarise myself with the bike. Lap after lap we’ve been getting better and I feel more confident. The most important thing is that we set good times with new tyres and were consistent on each runout.

The team have also done a very good job and in the end we found a good setup, on which we have to keep working at Jerez. If we continue in this way, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Unfortunately we were only able to ride for one day at Valencia, but we knew that this would happen. I can’t wait for Jerez.”

Team Manager – Aki Ajo – Audio
“The conditions were not very favourable, but you have to be positive. We were able to ride on Tuesday, put in a lot of laps, keep learning and continue setting up the new bike. We have also been able to keep the entire team working with the new riders, which is always important. Tuesday was a very positive day and the riders were very consistent, although we did not put on a soft tyre to try to set any spectacular laps. They are very happy with the new bike and the feeling is very positive.”