Repsol rider, fully recovered from crash at Misano, sets third fastest time on day one at MotorLand. Sena Yamada places 21st and Maria Herrera 33rd.
After a heavy crash at Misano in practice ruled him out of action a fortnight ago, Jorge Navarro returned stronger than ever for the Aragon GP. On Friday morning the Repsol Moto3 rider set the fourth fastest time, half a second off early pace setter Enea Bastianini. He lowered his best time of 1:59.635 by almost 8 tenths in the afternoon, improving his position and giving him third overall behind Bastianini and Miguel Oliveira.
Sena Yamada had a positive opening day in Aragon. The young Japanese rider improved by almost 2.5 seconds on his personal best time in the afternoon, to conclude 21st on the combined timesheets. Maria Herrera, immersed in setting up the new chassis she debuted at Misano, placed 33rd on day one.
Jorge Navarro
3rd, 1:58.894 sec, 32 laps, 162 km.
“Today was a positive day, as after what happened at Misano I was keen to get back on the bike and get a feel for things again. From the start of FP1, I felt good. There wasn’t much to try out with the team today, because we have tested here recently, in the afternoon the wind picked up a little and we tried out a new setup to deal with such conditions. We were able to draw good conclusions. Tomorrow, depending in how the wind is, we’ll already have some data for our setup. We are happy with the first day, and keen to keep working.”
Sena Yamada
21st 2:00.059 sec, 31 laps, 157 km.
“I felt very good. The level of the World Championship riders is incredible and in the first session I couldn’t follow them on track, because they were so much faster than me. In the second session I was a little closer and could get behind them. I was able to watch them and learn a lot, because everything is different, so I need to continue improving in order to earn points in the race. The second session was very positive for me, because I was able to perfect my technique compared to when we were here with the FIM CEV Repsol. I am happy with how the day went and the time I set, but I think I can improve more because on my fast lap I made a mistake on the final corner. Tomorrow we will work with the team to continue improving and try to go a little faster.”
Maria Herrera
33rd, 2:01.116 sec, 32 laps, 162 km.
“When you already know a circuit it is easier to start a weekend. I am very happy to be riding at home at last, as it had been a long time since I’d ridden a track that I know. We are working with the new chassis and getting to know it, as we haven’t ridden much with it. Today we worked on the setup and tomorrow I think we will lower our times. We need to keep working, but overall I am happy.”
