The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders finish ninth and eleventh in Practice for the French Grand Prix.

The first day of practice at the French Grand Prix took place on Friday, and the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders had a successful two sessions. Jose Antonio Rueda and Alvaro Carpe, despite not having the same feeling as on previous Fridays, comfortably secured a spot in Q2. They finished ninth and eleventh, respectively, in the afternoon Practice session.

With lower-than-usual temperatures on track, the Moto3 riders started FP1 slightly late after two morning red flags, in MotoE and Moto3 also. Rueda completed a total of 18 laps, focusing on finding his groove lap by lap under tricky conditions. The current World Championship leader made steady progress, achieving sixth place and a best time of 1:41.450 on his final lap. Carpe was the rider who completed the most laps at Le Mans in the morning, with 21, and did not make any pit stops during the session. He focused on understanding the track and the bike, as well as working on his race pace to minimise tyre wear. Finally, Carpe finished fourteenth with a best time of 1:42.085, just over a second off the top spot.

By the afternoon, both the asphalt and ambient temperatures rose, and the track was some 14ºC warmer than in FP1. Practice once again saw a significant number of crashes, prompting another red flag that interrupted the session. The break was beneficial for Rueda, who had not gotten off to a good start. He came from outside the Top 14 to turn things around with a positive final run, that allowed the three-time race winner to string together several consecutive fastest laps. Ultimately, with a best time of 1:40.592 that was one tenth slower than his all-time best time at Le Mans, Rueda finished ninth after 18 laps.

The same number of laps was completed by Carpe, who began the session better than his teammate, remaining in the Q2 positions throughout. Although most of his rivals pushed hard in the final stretch to try to break into the Top 14, the rookie held his spot and finished with a best lap of 1:40.604, almost a second and a half faster than his morning time. Despite finishing 11th in Practice, only 0.368 seconds separated Carpe from the session’s best time.

In conclusion, a difficult Friday, but solved with a place into Q2 for Jose Antonio Rueda and Alvaro Carpe, who were able to close the day close to the Top. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders will try to secure a good grid spot in Q2, which starts at 1:15 p.m. (local time) on Saturday at Le Mans. Before, in the morning, both will run the Practice at 8:40 a.m. in order to work on their race pace and to continue their progress ahead of the Qualifying.

Practice Results
1. David Muñoz (KTM) | 1:40.236
2. Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM) | 1:40.341 (+0.105)
3. Adrian Fernandez (Honda) | 1:40.379 (+0.143)
4. Angel Piqueras (KTM) | 1:40.387 (+0.151)
5. Maximo Quiles (CFMoto) | 1:40.475 (+0.239)
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:40:592 (+0.356)
11. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:40.604 (+0.368)

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“It wasn’t the best Friday of the season for us. I struggled a bit to get a steady pace going, but at least we know what we need to work on for tomorrow and Sunday’s race. Now we have to focus on the setup, to be more precise on the long corners and be more comfortable on the bike. This track has never been my favourite, so I don’t think we’re that far off the pace for the opening day. Tomorrow we’ll take another step forward, I’m sure.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“I felt very good today. In the afternoon, I improved both my feeling and my time, so we’re very happy with today’s result. Although it seems like we’re far behind, only 3 tenths of a second separate us from first place, which is the most important thing. The work was good and we rode alone, and we also found a good pace, so it’s been positive. I hope the weather continues to be kind to us, although it’s true that it’s quite cold here in the mornings, and we still have to improve in that. We’re more comfortable when it’s warmer, but we’ll adapt to whatever happens -both tomorrow and on Sunday.”