Repsol rider sets second fastest time of the opening day and teammate Jorge Navarro goes sixth. Maria Herrera ends Friday twenty-third.
Sun and high temperatures welcomed the World Championship on their arrival to Jerez. The first day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix brought very good results for the Repsol riders in the Moto3 class. At a circuit where the three riders have ridden numerous times previously in the FIM CEV Repsol, Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Navarro showed great potential with second and sixth place. Maria Herrera, also experiencing constant improvement since coming to the World Championship, ended the day twenty-third.
The conditions in the first morning session meant that many riders favoured a prudent approach. The cold and track surface condition meant that lap times were far from record pace. Fourth this morning, 7 tenths off the top time, Quartararo took a step forward in the afternoon to lower his best time by 6 tenths. That allowed him to move up to second overall, 0.0168 off Efren Vazquez’s pacesetting lap.
Teammate Navarro progressed throughout the first day. He set the eleventh fastest time this morning, subsequently lowering it by 8 tenths in the afternoon. He was sixth overall, half a second off Vazquez.
Maria Herrera started the day well, going fifteenth and 1.6s off the top in the morning session. In the second session, following a rise in track temperature, she was unable to improve her times while working on the setup of her bike, concluding twenty-third on the timesheets.
Fabio Quartararo
2nd – 1:47.256, 35 laps, 154 km
“I really enjoyed myself, because this is a circuit I know and that I like a lot, but the track was a little hot today. It was a tricky day, because the setup we had in preseason testing at this circuit has changed quite a lot because of the track temperature. Even so, I have a good feeling with the bike. I had a little scare, but it was no problem and the conditions were the same for everyone. The important thing is that we have a good setup for the bike in the heat.”
Jorge Navarro
6th – 1:47.578, 32 laps, 142 km
“The conditions have changed significantly compared to the test in preseason; it is much hotter and it is harder to reach the times we set in the test, but the feelings are positive. After trying some things out in the morning, in the afternoon session I saw that even on used tyres the bike was working better. We decided to put the new tyres on and worked with them for two runs. I managed to keep up a pretty good pace and we have seen what we have to improve.”
Maria Herrera
23rd – 1:48.714, 32 laps, 142 km
“The first session went very well. With the team we focused on getting a feel of the circuit, because it’s been a long time since we last rode here. We saw some points to work on in the second free practice. We made some changes to the setup of the bike to try to brake better, but it didn’t go so well. With such high temperatures, the grip level is different and your references also change. Anyway, I think we’re good for tomorrow, because we have reduced the gap to those at the front.”
