Rain and wind disrupt plans for Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira and Karel Hanika, only able to take advantage of one of the three designated hours.

Jerez Circuit was the scene as the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders debuted their new liveries for the Moto3 World Championship on Tuesday. The premiere was, however, overshadowed by rain and wind from 11.00am. It was only in the first session that the Moto3 riders were able to ride with slicks. Brad Binder was third, with a time of 1:49.461, Miguel Oliveira placed fourth with a 1:49.508 best and Karel Hanika was ninth thanks to a 1:50.135 lap. All three placed inside the Top 10, despite the low track temperatures.

In the second session of the day, the rain and wind took centre stage and minimised the activity on track. Miguel Oliveira was one of just three riders to go out on wet tyres, putting in four laps. His best of these was a 1:59.733. The third session began directly with a red flag due to the poor track conditions, which reinforced the idea for the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders to stay in the garage.

Action at the Spanish track will resume tomorrow at 10:00h for Moto3 riders. This will be the penultimate day of testing in the 2015 preseason.

Results – Combined Standings Day 1
1. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 1:49.055
2. Isaac Viñales (Husqvarna) 1:49.436 +0.381
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:49.461 +0.406
4. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:49.508 +0.453
5. Danny Kent (Honda) 1:49.508 +0.453
9. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:50.135 +1.080

#44 Miguel Oliveira,
“Today has been neither positive nor negative. We were unable to get much track time as it started to rain so early on. We did a few laps in the dry and we got the fourth fastest time, but the track conditions were not ideal. I hope that tomorrow we can ride in the wet and try to test some settings, but under normal conditions since today was very windy. We want to try out engine braking and other aspects in wet conditions. It will also be important to find a good feeling.
We had a new configuration for the forks that we wanted to try, but we’ve left that for tomorrow. It is something that KTM have developed this winter and it needs to be tested and developed, but with weather like today it is difficult to do that.”

#41 Brad Binder,
“Despite the bad weather, the feeling in the first session was pretty good. We tested some new parts for the front part of the KTM that worked very well for the first few laps, so I’m happy with that because the conditions were not ideal for riding fast. In the last hour of testing we would have liked to have gone out in the wet, but there was just too much water on the track and it made no sense. I hope the weather improves tomorrow, but if not I will do some kilometres in the wet.”

#98 Karel Hanika,
“It was a shame about the weather conditions we encountered today. The only positive was that we were able to return to get back on the KTM after almost a month without riding. That was the best thing about today. I only managed to put in 16 laps, which is very little for a day of preseason testing and, although the track was dry, it was so windy that we couldn’t go as fast as we would have liked. Definitely the best thing about the day was riding again, and regaining our feeling ahead of tomorrow.”