Rueda, Zurutuza and Carpe improve their times in the first sessions of the Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 had a positive start to their weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, despite the low temperatures and lack of grip experienced during the morning. Jose Antonio Rueda, Xabi Zurutuza and Alvaro Carpe all improved their times and finished the day 7th, 23rd and 26th, respectively.

The morning Free Practice began with low temperatures and little grip on the track, making it difficult for the Moto3 riders early on. Rueda and Zurutuza worked on fine-tuning their setups and gradually gaining a good feeling, whilst debutant Carpe focused on adapting to a new bike and team. Rueda tried to close the gap to the leading riders in the opening stages and, after completing 16 laps, he was eighth, less than a second behind the leader, with a time of 1:48.235. Zurutuza has worked to get a good pace ahead of Sunday’s race -his last with Red Bull KTM Ajo. He took a big step up compared to recent rounds and, whilst challenging for the Top10, achieved the twelfth best time thanks to his 1:48.513 -on his 13th lap of 16. Carpe makes his debut this weekend as a wildcard in the Moto3 World Championship, and Friday saw him try to get a good feeling in his first practice sessions with his new bike and team. His adaptation was quickly reflected in his first laps, and he even managed to ride in the Top10 at one point, before finally earning 20th with a time of 1:49.048.

In the afternoon, the increase in temperatures allowed the Red Bull KTM Ajo trio to lower their times from the morning. Rueda remained among the fastest on the very tight timesheets, with ten riders all within just half a second of each other. He slashed over a second off his best lap and secured a provisional spot in Q2, with a 1:46.919 that put him in seventh place. Zurutuza pushed for a spot in the Top15 and improved his best time to 1:48.401, but was only able to finish 23rd. Carpe put in 14 productive laps, fine-tuning his setup to further increase his feel for the bike. Despite the gap to the leading riders having increased, Carpe was satisfied with his work and the progress made, finishing the day in 26th.

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

Results Practice 1
1. Daniel Holgado (GASGAS) 1:46.568
2. David Muñoz (KTM) 1:46.649 +0.081
3. Angel Piqueras (Honda) 1:46.742 +0.174
4. Joel Kelso (KTM) 1:46.810 +0.242
5. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 1:46.855 +0.287
7. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:46.919 +0.351
23. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:48.401 +1.833
26. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:48.115 +2.002

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“In the first practice session the track was quite cold and it was quite noticeable. But in the second practice the temperature was a bit higher and there was a bit more rubber on the track than for the other two classes. It helped us to ride better and to get a better feeling here in Barcelona. I’m happy with how we are working, the initial sensation with the bike was very good, so we have to keep working to fine-tune a few things to continue improving our pace.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“The track conditions could be better, as we have a weekend ahead with quite cold weather and a track that didn’t have a lot of rubber down. The feeling in the morning was quite good, in the afternoon too, but we were missing a fast lap. We worked a lot on our race pace with used tyres, so I am happy with the work that we have done, as it sets us up for tomorrow. The objective is to go straight into Q2, try to find a pace that I feel comfortable with for the race and try to finish the weekend in the best possible way.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“I felt very good today and was improving in each session. We tried different things on the bike, because at the beginning I had a neutral setup. I have also been getting a feel for the bike itself, since I had never ridden it before. I was gaining confidence with the mechanics and the technicians as well. We are realising that the pace in the World Championship is really demanding, so we will try to improve our times tomorrow.”