Jaume Masia and Dani Holgado complete the first two Free Practice sessions of the weekend at Le Mans and take provisional spots in Q2.

Le Mans track hosted the opening day of the French Grand Prix on Friday, kicking off Round 7 of the 2022 Moto3 World Championship. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders enjoyed dry conditions, albeit with somewhat low temperatures. In the overall standings for FP1 and FP2, Jaume Masia was fifth, with teammate Dani Holgado in 11th. With these results, the duo took provisional spots in tomorrow’s Q2.

The day started well for the pair. Masia was very competitive and consistent from the get-go, and momentarily led the way in FP1. Finally, the Spaniard finished in sixth position after stopping the clock at 1:42.615, on his 16th lap of 17. Holgado had his first experience with his KTM at Le Mans, in a session that he concluded in eighth place. The rookie racked up 17 laps and his best time was a 1:42.733 on his last attempt.

In the afternoon, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo had a 40-minute FP2 session. Due to a considerable number of crashes early on, both riders approached the first half of the runout with caution. In the final stages, Masia lowered his morning time with a 1:42.348 on his 15th attempt out of 17. He finished fifth, whilst Holgado was 12th with a 1:42.843 after 17 laps of the French track.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 will have one last chance to fine-tune the setup of their KTM bikes before the fight for pole position on Saturday. Moto3 Q1 will start at 12:35 PM local time, followed by Q2 at 1 PM.

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)

1. Dennis Foggia (Honda) 1:41.680
2. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 1:42.108 +0.428
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:42.203 +0.523
4. Carlos Tatay (CFMoto) 1:42.326 +0.646
5. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.348 +0.668
11. Dani Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.733 +1.053

#5 JAUME MASIA

“Overall, the day went well, and I’m happy with how things are going so far. We still have things to do and we have to take small steps forward but, for the first day of work at Le Mans, it’s been very good. I really want to keep pushing tomorrow and, above all, I’m looking forward to Sunday and enjoying a great race.”

#96 DANI HOLGADO

“It’s been a pretty positive day, as we were confident from the start of the weekend and that was our goal coming here, after what happened at Jerez and Portimao. The two practices that we had today were productive both for me and for the team, and we have found a good setup that is sure to help us for the race. We must continue working in the same way. We feel ready to face qualifying tomorrow.”