The first free training sessions of the Spanish Grand Prix have ended with ambiguous sensations for the 125cc Repsol riders. Esteve Rabat and Scott Redding have managed to classify in sixth and seventh place on their Aprilia RSAs; but Marc Márquez, on his KTM FRR 125, has finished fourteen and his team mate, Cameron Beaubier, twenty second.
Unlike the first two Grand Prix races, the sun, heat and audience’s excitement have welcomed the Motorcycling World Championship to Europe, with the Jerez circuit as the backdrop. Esteve Rabat and Scott Redding were able to take advantage of these circumstances to finish at the front, thanks to a set up that, although the back wheel performance must be improved on the fast turns, has allowed both of them to finish the day with a pleasant taste in their mouths.
On the flip side of the coin is Marc Márquez. He arrived in Jerez with high hopes thanks to the good work done in this scenario in pre-season testing, but the Repsol rider had problems with the front wheel on the faster turns in Jerez -“Crivillé” and “Ferrari”- that did not let him build up the confidence necessary to ride quickly and has finished 2.068 seconds off the best time clocked up by Bradley Smith. Cameron Beaubier, with a few problems in the first laps of the practice sessions, finished twenty second, gradually improving his times.
Marc Márquez, 1’49.453 secs, 16 laps, 71 km. >> Audio
“The day has been a little complicated because in theory, it’s a circuit I know well and that suits me, and on which we had a set up that worked a few weeks ago, but it has been a little difficult. I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike because I wasn’t confident with the front wheel. In tomorrow’s free practice sessions we will try to improve based on what we see now in the telemetry data, and in the afternoon, I hope to clock up a good time in the timed session. The circuit is in good condition because the other riders have ridden fast, but today, I wasn’t confident with the front wheel of my bike.”
Esteve Rabat, 1’48.722 seg, 17 vueltas, 75 km. >> Audio
“It hasn’t gone too badly at all, I think that we have had a good practice session. My best time I achieved riding alone, and that’s very positive. We have a good set up, we just need to finish adjusting some details and remove some rebound on the back wheel –with the race wheel- which appears on the fast turns. The engine is running well and I am very confident with the front wheel. I think that if we continue working as we are, slowly and calmly, we will have a good race on Sunday.”
Scott Redding, 1’49.131 secs, 16 laps, 71 km. >> Audio
“Today I have improved my feeling on the bike a lot, fortunately the weather has accompanied us and in general, we have a good set up. Seventh isn’t bad for the first practice session of the weekend. Yes, there are few riders that are faster than us, but in my last lap, I committed several small mistakes that lost me a lot of time. I truly believe that tomorrow I can run a second faster, and that would be very good.”
Cameron Beaubier, 1’50.676 secs, 17 laps, 75 km. >> Audio
“I felt quite comfortable on the bike, although at the beginning of the practice session, we found it a bit difficult to outline the turns. I don’t think that the circuit is in ideal condition at the moment, but little by little it will change and we will be able to go faster. Towards the end of the session, I felt better, therefore, tomorrow we will see if we can follow a good line. What I need is to ride, clock up laps to build up my confidence and reduce my times. In the tests we performed a month a go, we got a good set up, which we will have to change very little for tomorrow.”
