Rins 0.086 off Luis Salom’s top time. Alex Marquez places fourteenth.
The first day of a decisive weekend in Moto3 saw Alex Rins, keeping up the heat on his title rivals Luis Salom and Maverick Viñales. Whilst temperatures on Thursday were hot, today was a cooler affair with the arrival of clouds and strong winds. The weather forecasts for the weekend predict good conditions.
After the opening run of the day, in which Rins was fourth and Alex Marqeuz twelfth, the preparations continued with the afternoon practice session.
In this second free practice, Rins was the fastest rider, 0.013 quicker than Salom and 0.091 ahead of Viñales. However, in the combined standings Salom was fastest, ahead of Rins and Viñales.
Alex Marquez was slowed down by mechanical problems in both the morning and afternoon, placing twelfth and thirteenth respectively. He was fourteenth overall.
Alex Rins >> audio
FP1 – 1:41.010, 19 laps, 76 km.
FP2 – 1:40.489, 19 laps, 76 km.
“Overall today was positive, because I felt comfortable on track, with the bike and despite the wind. Normally I don’t feel so at ease. Last season I found it hard to adapt to this circuit, but things are going rather well at the moment. In the afternoon session we made a few setup changes and they worked out for us. We still have a lot to do and today there was a lot of wind; we were able to be fast regardless, but maybe it won’t be windy in the race.”
Alex Marquez >> audio
FP1 – 1:41.711, 17 laps, 68 km.
FP2 – 1:41.601, 19 laps, 76 km.
“We had a lot of problems today. I think that the setup that we have is good, but we still need to improve it a little. We are on the right track, but we just need to resolve the mechanical problems and focus on this from the beginning tomorrow. I don’t think that our position reflects what we are capable of and we can be further up the order. I am convinced that we can progress a lot, so I am calm.”
