The Spanish rider was ninth, with Xabi Zurutuza 22nd.

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli experienced a hectic day of action on Friday, in which the track conditions were highly changeable due to the rain from the previous days. The Moto3 class saw an intense fight for the top positions, with Jose Antonio Rueda in ninth position -just 3 tenths behind the pace setter. Xabi Zurutuza was unable to get into the provisional Q2 positions and was 22nd.

Free Practice for the Emilia Romagna GP took place in wet conditions. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders focused on finding a good feeling in tricky circumstances, due to the forecasts that the track would dry out for Practice 1. Without taking too many risks, both riders improved their times. Rueda had some difficulty at the start, on a track where any small mistake could lead to an unexpected crash. The Spanish rider completed a total of 15 laps and set his best time on the penultimate attempt, a 1:55.427 with which he finished in fifteenth position. Zurutuza showed great consistency in the conditions. The Moto3 rookie quickly climbed the order to enter the Top 5, then continued to occupy the leading positions, trying to close the gap at the same time. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was finally fourth with a time of 1:54.170, achieved on his penultimate lap.

The afternoon conditions were completely different to those from the morning. With the track dry, the riders started to work on occupying the Q2 positions for the qualifying sessions. Rueda was much more comfortable and consistent, taking advantage of the good feeling he had at Misano in the recent San Marino Grand Prix. After a pit stop, he continued to improve his times in a Practice 1 that was very close, with up to 17 riders within a single second. His 1:41.433 placed him in ninth position, although only 0.3s behind the leader. Zurutuza worked on establishing a good setup, but had to battle to try to secure a place in the Top 14. After fifteen laps, the rookie was only able to place 22nd, with a time of 1:42.700 on his penultimate lap.

Moto3 qualifying sessions will start on Saturday at 12:50 pm local time.

Results Practice 1
1. Adrian Fernandez  (Honda) 1:41.071
2. Daniel Holgado (GASGAS) 1:41.181 +0.110
3. Angel Piqueras (Honda) 1:41.203 +0.132
4. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 1:41.253 +0.182
5. Tatsuki Suzuki (Husqvarna) 1:41.257 +0.186
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.433 +0.362
22. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.700 +1.629

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA
“The conditions in Free Practice were very strange: The track was wet but it dried out very quickly. We took advantage of it to get a feel for the wet. In Practice the times were very close and we finished 3 tenths off the leader. The grip level was not very good because of the rain from recent days, but in the end we felt comfortable. We have things to improve, but we are happy because I think that tomorrow we can do better and try to be higher up. It is the second weekend here and everything will be even tighter, but we will continue to give it our all in qualifying.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA
“We’ve finished a first day at Misano with very different conditions. In the first practice we got a very good result in wet conditions, although in the afternoon it took us a bit of work to adapt. Tomorrow we’ll try to take a bigger step forward. The goal is to go straight into Q2, so we have to keep going.”