The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo were reunited with their bikes at the Spanish circuit on Wednesday, after four months of inactivity.

After the global health emergency forced the complete halt of the Moto3 World Championship, Raul Fernandez and Kaito Toba had waited a long time to get back on-board their KTM bikes. The pair did so at Jerez on Wednesday, on a day of testing in which the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders enjoyed two fruitful 40-minute sessions. The Spaniard looked to be in top form, setting the second best time, whilst his Japanese teammate was 15th on the combined timesheets.

Raul Fernandez lowered his time from morning to afternoon by almost a second. After topping the last session, the Spaniard was second overall thanks to his 1:46.584 best lap. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider put in a total of 30 laps, enabling him to assess his fitness and work on race pace.

Toba also made a big leap up from morning to afternoon, improving his feeling when riding and regaining confidence with his KTM. The Japanese rider set a personal best of 1:47.307 in the second session and completed 34 laps of the Andalusian track. The 20-year-old was satisfied with the work done and is ready for the start of the second race of the year.

The duo will rest up on Thursday, before the Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix gets underway on Friday, July 17th.

Results – Moto3
1. John McPhee (Honda) 1:46.263
2. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:46.584 +0.321
3. Jaume Masia (Honda) 1:46.593 +0.330
4. Tatuski Suzuki (Honda) 1:46.645 +0.382
5. Filip Salac (Honda) 1:46.823 +0.560
15. Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:47.307 +1.044

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“It was a very positive day and I am very happy with how it went. It was a little odd to start with, after 4 months without riding a motorcycle and without being able to work together with the team. However, in the end we had a good test, making progress throughout the day. We worked a lot on our race pace and we were able to set a good fast lap as well. I want to thank the whole team – especially my crew chief, because he helped me a lot to improve my riding style. We know the details that need to be fine-tuned, so we can still take another step forward over the weekend. We are going to work very hard.”

27 KAITO TOBA

“We have had a good test. At first I felt strange, since it had been many months without riding the bike. But little by little I regained my feeling, and that allowed me to improve my times. We are happy with how it went and, most importantly, we feel ready for Sunday’s race.”