Strong start for Rins puts him sixth on day one at Aragon, with Alex Marquez sixth and Maria Herrera twenty-sixth.
After enjoying a few days of the local festivities at Valdealgorfa near MotorLand, Alex Rins was back to work today to begin the Aragon Grand Prix. The Spaniard set the fastest time of the day on Friday, with teammate Alex Marquez sixth and wild card entry Maria Herrera claiming twenty-sixth. The latter had been impressive in the morning run at Aragon.
Rins and Marquez took it easy in the first session of the weekend, marking the fifth and sixth fastest times, respectively. The surprise of the session was Maria Herrera, who in her first World Championship run set the tenth fastest time, 1.7s behind quickest rider Maverick Viñales.
In the afternoon, Rins went quickest after swapping hot laps with Viñales. Alex Márquez set the sixth fastest time and Maria Herrera continued her learning process, with the twenty-eighth fastest lap of the session –twenty-sixth overall.
Alex Rins >> Audio
FP1 – 2:01.532, 17 laps, 86 km.
FP2 – 1:59.801, 16 laps, 81 km.
“Today has gone very well. At the end of the second practice session we set a good time and the truth is that we were not expecting it. We struggled a bit to find pace and the heat did not help either. We are working very well considering the race-worn tyres we are using, and I think we could still lower our times further. Tomorrow we will try to keep improving and working on the bike as we have been doing at every Grand Prix. We will try to ride alone in order to get a good pace.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
FP1 – 2:01.572, 16 laps, 81 km.
FP2 – 2:00.971, 17 laps, 86 km.
“The feeling in general is good. At first I struggled a bit to find my pace, but finally we managed to find a good setup and greatly improved the lap times. I’m not too happy with the second practice session, but we have learnt important lessons that will serve us well for the race. In the end I could not put in a strong lap, but we have to be calm. Tomorrow we have to continue working and improving.”
Maria Herrera >> Audio
FP1 – 2:02.242, 17 laps, 86 km.
FP2 – 2:02.454, 17 laps, 86 km.
“During the first session today I found the race pace I had in the CEV Repsol visit here, so I rode very comfortablly. I tried to push hard, kept the pace up and concentrated mostly on my lines. We can say that we’ve done pretty well today, but in the second session I struggled a bit to pick up the pace because of the change in track temperature. Tomorrow we will continue working to improve these things. I am very happy, although I still find it a bit strange to be riding with Rins, Viñales and Salom overtaking me. Normally I watch them riding very fast and today I am here with them.”
