Second and fourth row starts for Jorge Navarro and Fabio Quartararo, respectively, with Maria Herrera just 9 tenths off the top in twenty-second.
The starting grid for the final Grand Prix of the 2015 season was decided this Saturday, with the Repsol riders in the Moto3 class finding out where they will begin the contest in Valencia. Jorge Navarro will do so from the second row, after setting the fifth fastest time in the qualifying session, Fabio Quartararo’s eleventh place puts him on row four, and Maria Herrera will take off from 22nd and the eighth row.
In the morning session, the free third practice, Navarro again showed that he is on top form. The home rider set the second fastest time, 0.190s off Miguel Oliveira, who topped the timesheet. Quartararo was eleventh in the morning practice, 0.599s off Oliveira, and Herrera was twenty-third and just over one second down.
The qualifying session was again affected by heavy traffic on track, although that did not prevent Navarro from settling into the top positions from the start. In the end, the Repsol rider placed third after his last lap, but was subsequently overtaken by two riders. His best time, 1:39.525 ensured him fifth on the grid for tomorrow.
Fabio Quartararo continues to recover from his injured right ankle, and showed his improvement by setting the eleventh fastest time. He was just 0.322s behind John McPhee –the surprise poleman today. Maria Herrera took twenty-second position, 0.960s off the quickest time on a day in which the fastest 23 riders were separated by less than 1 second.
Tomorrow ‘s Moto3 race will start at 11:00am local time.
Fabio Quartararo
11th – 1:39.686, 34 laps, 136 km
“I feel very good ahead of the race, because I put in many consecutive laps even though I thought I was going to get tired after so much time without riding. But I’m riding very focused and really enjoying myself, so I do not notice any fatigue. It was a very difficult qualifying session, because I always rode alone and a slipstream is very noticeable with times so tight. But I’m happy because I had a very good race pace this afternoon and in the morning with very worn tyres. Although there are many riders within seven tenths of each other, I think we will again see a group of about eight to ten riders at the front.”
Jorge Navarro
5th – 1:39.525, 36 laps, 144 km
“Today was another very positive day for us. This morning we managed to improve the bike and I felt very comfortable from the very first laps on old tires. Putting on new tyres got us up to second, but I could have gone fastest if another rider hadn’t have fallen in front of me. In the qualifying session I continued with the good feeling and I knew I could do very well. It was a shame that I had my best time crossed off for having cut the track. I thought I was within the limit, but the team confirmed to me that I went a little wide. Those are the rules and they must be followed. At the very end, with the last set of tyres, I had the typical Moto3 qualifying experience: Nobody wanted to push, everyone was sitting waiting and in the end I had to push by myself. I managed to improve my time and in the end I was fifth, which is not bad. But the important thing is that for tomorrow we have a good pace and I think we can fight for the win.”
Maria Herrera
22nd – 1:40.324, 35 laps, 140 km
“In the last free practice I improved a lot from yesterday but I knew that in the qualifying session I had to take another step forward, both with my riding and my lines. I had been forcing things too much on the corners. I managed to make those improvements and was more comfortable. At the beginning of the qualifying session I rode in a group, but on the last laps I could not find any slipstream and could not lower my time. In any case, I ended up happy. I was nine tenths off the pole position and I think tomorrow we have the pace to fight for points.”
