Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin make the most of final day in Jerez to add kilometres to the clock, whilst Luis Salom elects to avoid risks on wet track.

The dry conditions at Jerez only lasted a single day. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders had to contend with fine rain from the opening hour of Thursday’s final test day, forced to change their plans for the second time this week. Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin decided to ride, whilst Luis Salom erred on the side of caution after previously riding in the wet on Tuesday.

On a wet track, Sissis and Zulfahmi dedicated the first session of the day to putting kilometres under their belts. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders racked up 23 and 27 laps, respectively, with both going round in under two minutes and taking sixth and seventh spot, respectively. A 13ºC ambient temperature and a strong wind blowing gusts of up to 20 km/h were the backdrop as the young riders adjusted their wet weather settings.
In the Moto3-only session, the Australian and the Malaysian riders concluded their test, dropping their times from earlier in the day. Sissis stopped the clock at 1’59.464, whilst Khairuddin’s best lap was 1’59.389. The quickest rider on Thursday was Jack Miller.
Red Bull KTM Ajo will be back onboard their machinery in under a month’s time –from March 18th-21st– at the Moto3 Official Test at Jerez. This will serve as a final preparation for the opening round of the season in Qatar.

Results
1. Jack Miller (FTR Honda) 1:58.354
2. Alex Rins (KTM) 1:58.495 +0.141
3. Jakub Kornfeil (Kalex KTM) 1:58.644 +0.290
4. Romano Fenati (FTR Honda) 1:59.044 +0.690
5. Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra) 1:59.100 +0.746
8. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.389 +1.035
9. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.464 +1.110
-. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) –

Luis Salom
“This test at Jerez has been very good. On Day 1 we rode in the wet and the feeling was good in those conditions. Yesterday, in the dry, we rode very comfortably with the bike; we were fast and had a strong pace. I am very happy, because both the team and KTM are working very well. Personally, I have made a big change that has taken me a couple of steps forward. I was able to ride on my own and get my best time like that, without a tow. I am learning fast with this team. They are improving me as a a rider.”

Arthur Sissis
“These three days haven’t been all positive, due to the weather conditions. It rained a lot and the track was wet for most of the test. Today we weren’t able to ride much; we changed a couple of things, but it didn’t work out as we had hoped. The good thing is that we have a good wet setup.”

Zulfahmi Kaihruddin
“Today the weather wasn’t good and the track was tricky. We focused on trying out some different suspension adjustments and I am happy with how the bike performed in the end. I think that we did a pretty good fast lap and I think that, after this test, we have a generally fast bike in wet conditions.”

Aki Ajo
“It’s a pity, because the weather conditions weren’t the best for us here. We were hoping for more dry track time, but that wasn’t possible. Luckily we had good weather yesterday and were able to improve a lot, so we’re happy with that. The bike is completely new this year, so we hope that we can have more dry tests and continue to prepare for the start of the campaign.”