Masia and Acosta complete the first two Free Practices of the French GP, finishing third and eighteenth, respectively, on the combined timesheets.

The legendary Le Mans circuit hosted the opening day of the French Grand Prix on Friday. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo had to contend with tough track conditions, riding in the wet in FP1 and the dry in FP2. Jaume Masia adapted well and ended the day in third position overall, for a provisional place in tomorrow’s Q2 session. Pedro Acosta completed his first experience at the track, finishing 18th.

Friday started with FP1, held in the wet and with low temperatures dropping to 12ºC. Acosta finished second with a 1:53.857, after completing 16 laps in his first encounter with the French circuit. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rookie suffered two crashes, at the beginning and at the end of the practice but was unhurt. On the other side of the box, Masia was strong despite the difficult track conditions, leading the session at times. He was finally tenth after stopping the clock at 1:54.474 on his last attempt of 15.

The track dried out for FP2, although the wind and low temperatures persisted. This did not prevent a competitive showing from Masia, who achieved the third best time of both the session and of the day – a 1:42.331. The Spaniard put in 15 laps in FP2, compared to 17 for teammate Acosta. The rookie continued to gain kilometres of experience at the French track and finished in 18th place for Friday with a 1:43.229.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo will have a final Free Practice on Saturday morning before the fight for the pole position. Q1 for the French Grand Prix will begin at 12:35 PM local time, followed by Q2 at 1 PM.

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)

1. Gabriel Rodrigo (Honda) 1:42.150
2. Darryn Binder (Honda) 1:42.276 +0.126
3. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.331 +0.181
4. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 1:42.487 +0.337
5. Deniz Öncü (KTM) 1:42.510 +0.360
18. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.229 +1.079

5 JAUME MASIA

“I’m happy with the day. We proved that we are competitive in both wet and dry conditions. It was important for us to set a good time that would allow us to get a provisional spot in Q2 tomorrow. We have to see what weather conditions we have on Saturday, but we have to be prepared for any situation.”

37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“It was a good day, taking into account that we had never ridden at this track. FP1 went well and it helped me to get to know the circuit in wet conditions. We have to keep working, but I’m happy with the feeling I had today. Tomorrow we will continue pushing to the maximum to take further steps forward.”