Rins shines in first appearance in Great Britain, using dry asphalt to clock fourth best time of the day. Viñales and Oliveira fifth and fourteenth after rainfall at Silverstone.
Despite intense morning rain and the fact that the first practice sessions took place in the wet, a dry afternoon session at Silverstone gave the Moto3 riders some useful track time ahead of round six of the World Championship. Álex Rins shone in his first appearance at the British track, clocking the fourth best time of the day. Maverick Viñales was fifth. The third Repsol rider in the class, Miguel Oliveira, placed fourteenth in what was also his first visit to Silverstone.
The British Grand Prix weekend began by living up to the forecasts, with heavy rainfall affecting the opening practice sessions. With the track completely wet, Maverick Viñales and Miguel Oliveira went out to see what they could do, ending the morning run eighth and ninth, respectively. Álex Rins, who like Oliveira was making his first appearance at the track, had difficulties and placed twenty-ninth.
After the first MotoGP and Moto2 sessions the sun came out and provided more comfortable conditions for the lower cylinder class. Adapting well to the longest circuit on the calendar, Rins took an enormous leap forward to end the dry session fourth overall —half a second off the best time of the day. Maverick Viñales was just behind him in fifth. Miguel Oliveira chose to work on his setup and put in the fourteenth fastest lap.
Maverick Viñales >> Audio
FP1 – 2:38.798, 11 laps, 65 km.
FP2 – 2:19.610, 14 laps, 83 km.
“My first impressions after the first practice sessions at this track are very good and I like it here. In the two runs I felt very comfortable and got some good times. I made various tests to find the best setting here, but we still don’t have everything clear. We always try and take a step forward, however, so I’m sure that we will go better tomorrow. Riding one session in the dry and the other in the wet has been useful for making adjustments and it was important to get some wet track time, because the weather here is always a little uncertain. I hope that the race is either completely wet or completely dry”.
Miguel Oliveira >> Audio (port)
FP1 – 2:39.199, 13 laps, 77 km.
FP2 – 2:21.001, 13 laps, 77 km.
“The morning session was really difficult: Rain, a new circuit and a lot of wind. After my opening laps I realised that this is a track of two very distinct parts, in which one section is very fast and the other very slow —one of the slowest in the World Championship. That means that we need a good chassis and a good balance in our development of the setup. I felt a little better in the dry afternoon session, although we weren’t able to put in a better time because of a few problems. I have to analyse my lines for tomorrow, as I think that this is where we will find the key to a good performance. I hope that we can continue our work on a completely dry track tomorrow”.
Álex Rins >> Audio
FP1 – 2:43.530, 13 laps, 77 km.
FP2 – 2:19.607, 15 laps, 89 km.
“In the first session I found it a little hard to adapt to the track, as it is my first time here and I had the added difficulty of it being wet to contend with. I was tricky, but in the second session we were able to find a good pace. We still have a lot of things to improve though. The circuit is very well rounded and for me the toughest part is the third sector. It is a fun track, but at the same time it is one at which you have to be alert all the time”.
