Alex Marquez claims day’s second best time, with Alex Rins fourth.
After their one-two at the Indianapolis GP, the Repsol Moto3 riders continued on song at Brno in the opening practice sessions. Alex Marquez was second fastest today, whilst Alex Rins was fourth.
In pleasant temperatures and with stable weather conditions, the first session saw Rins third on the timesheet ‒0.447 off Maverick Viñales in first- and Marquez sixth, 0.871 behind the pacesetter.
The second practice runout was an entertaining affair, in which four riders exchanged places at the top of the combined standings. Viñales, Salom, Marquez and Rins were the main players, although the best time of the day would go to the first of the four. Marquez was second, Salom third and Rins fourth. Marquez lowered his morning time by almost 2 seconds, whilst Alex Rins took just under a second off his previous best.
Practice continues at Brno tomorrow, with the final free session and qualifying to decide the grid for the Moto3 Czech Republic GP.
Alex Rins >> Audio
FP1 – 2:09.936, 16 laps, 81 km.
FP2 – 2:09.159, 16 laps, 87 km.
“We’re finding it hard to adapt to this circuit. Whilst these are only the first free practice sessions and there is still another practice before the qualifying session, we have not been able to find the ideal setup for the bike. Both in the morning and in the afternoon I managed to find a little pace, but in the final minutes the other riders also lowered their times and it was more difficult for us. We are going to get to work tomorrow to take that step up.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
FP1 – 2:10.360, 16 laps, 81 km.
FP2 – 2:08.543, 15 laps, 81 km.
“It was a very positive first day at Brno. From the first moment I went out on the track, I felt very comfortable and found references quickly. During the day we have been trying different things. In the morning session we saved tyres with FP2 in mind, then in the afternoon we tried to see how far we could get with new tyres. We achieved a very good second place, so we have to continue in this way to get better for tomorrow, because we’re still half a second off our times from last year and these times are sure to be lowered. We still have room for improvement, but it really helps that we are coming here off a podium less than a week ago -it is an added motivation.”
