Jose Antonio Rueda finishes sixth on Friday, while Xabi Zurutuza is 24th.

The first day of the Malaysian Grand Prix featured changeable conditions for the Moto3 riders to contend with. After a wet Free Practice, the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo improved their times in a dry Practice: Jose Antonio Rueda fought for the top positions, finishing sixth, whilst Xabi Zurutuza was 24th.

Free Practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix took place in the wet, after rain that fell early in the morning. The Moto3 field started the day with a few laps to check the condition of the track, where the lack of grip has made riding difficult. High temperatures allowed it to dry out progressively, whilst Rueda steadily felt much more comfortable -even in wet conditions. He rode alone and was high up the time sheets, putting in 13 laps and setting a best time of 2:25.353, which placed him seventh. Zurutuza had his first experience at the Sepang International Circuit, and had some difficulty finding a good feeling. The Moto3 rookie focused on getting to know the track and improving lap after lap, achieving his best time on his last attempt. A 2:26.229 placed him sixteenth.

The afternoon session was held with the track completely dry, and with an increase in temperatures. Rueda continued to have the same good feeling as in the morning, working on his pace and on finding a good setup for the race. He closed the gap to the frontrunners, finishing in sixth position with a time of 2:11.886, again achieved on his last attempt. Zurutuza shifted his attention to looking for pace on lowering his time, given the improved conditions. However, he did not feel completely comfortable, and his best time came at the start of the session. His 2:13.595 put him in 24th place.

Moto3 qualifying will take place on Saturday from 12:50pm, local time.

Results Practice 1
1. David Alonso (CFMOTO) 2:11.241
2. Adrian Fernandez (Honda) 2:11.457 +0.216
3. Taiyo Furusato (Honda) 2:11.707 +0.466
4. Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM) 2:11.733 +0.492
5. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 2:11.801 +0.560
6. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:11.886 +0.645
24. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:13.595 +2.354

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“We’ve finished the first day with a very good feeling, both in the first session in the wet and in the dry. I am very happy. We need to keep working in dry conditions to improve and be able to ride faster. Today we managed to be sixth, half a second behind the pacesetter, riding alone, on a very long circuit where you can gain a lot of time in the slipstream. I’m very happy with the good feeling and we will see tomorrow how everything goes -and if we can improve a bit more to be more competitive in the race.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“We have finished the first day here in Malaysia. It has been a day with very different conditions between the first practice and the second. In the wet it was a bit difficult for us to find the best feeling compared to other practices, but in the second practice the track was totally dry and we went out with the idea of riding alone and finding our pace. Our objective for tomorrow is to do better in the parts that we have seen that we can improve today, and take a big step forward.”