Pedro Acosta sets the best time of the day, with Albert Arenas in seventeenth position.

The Portuguese Grand Prix got underway on Friday for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders. Pedro Acosta and Albert Arenas battled high winds in Portimao to get a good feeling, ending the day top and seventeenth, respectively.

Friday’s Practice 1 kicked off the on-track activity for the Moto2 riders. The Red Bull KTM Ajo duo returned to work at the Portuguese circuit after preseason testing there under a week prior. Acosta once again remained in the top positions on the timesheets, placing second with a 1:43.051 from his penultimate lap, but had to cut his session short due to rain. Arenas also concluded the session prematurely with a time of 1:44.381, achieved on his fourth lap of 8.

In the afternoon session, Acosta and Arenas had to contend with strong gusts of wind at the Portuguese track. Acosta continued to be one of the strongest riders in the intermediate class, showing confidence, improving his times and leading the way for much of P2. After 19 laps, his 1:42.391 time placed him at the top of the standings for Friday. Arenas gave his all to find a good feeling. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was not completely comfortable, however, and although he improved his morning times by almost a second, he finished seventeenth with a time of 1:43.496 -set on his 14th lap of 17. Arenas will work in P3 to make his way directly into Q2.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team will return to action on Saturday with the final Practice session at 9:25 AM, followed by qualifying from 1:45 PM, local time.

Results (Combined practice times P1 – P2)
1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.391
2. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 1:42.489 +0.098
3. Filip Salac (Kalex) 1:42.730 +0.339
4. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) 1:42.760 +0.369
5. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:42.762 +0.371
17. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.496. +1.105

#37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“It was a very positive first day. I felt very good and without a doubt the test last weekend helped us a lot. It was important to adapt to the conditions, since the wind today was quite strong. We are working very well and we set a good time. It’s always positive to start the weekend like this. Tomorrow we want to go one step further and get a great result in QP.”

#75 ALBERT ARENAS

“Today was a somewhat difficult day in Portimao. The rain didn’t allow us to complete all of FP1 and also I did not have a good feeling with the bike. This afternoon we will continue working to find out what is preventing me from being as fast as I would like to be, although we are clear about where to go. Tomorrow we will give it our all again; the objective is to go straight into Q2 and get a good spot on the starting grid.”