Portuguese rider fourth on first visit to Malaysia, with Rins also amongst the top ten. Álex Márquez places thirteenth, whilst Viñales does not participate in free practice.
The Moto3 World Championship continued straight on from the Japanese GP with a return to action at the Malaysian circuit of Sepang. Miguel Oliveira was fourth on an opening day of practice dominated by Jonas Folger, with Álex Rins and Álex Márquez also starting well with tenth and thirteenth place, respectively. Second in the World Championship, Maverick Viñales did not participate in the sessions after announcing that he had severed his contract with his team.
The first session of free practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix was a positive one for Álex Rins and Miguel Oliveira, who on their debut at the Sepang circuit were fifth and eighth fastest, respectively. Álex Márquez had problems that after sixteen laps has left him running three seconds back, twenty-third on the timesheets.
Lowering their lap times, the Repsol riders improved their performance in the second practice session, in which Miguel Oliveira stopped the clock at 2’16.24 milliseconds, the fifth quickest time and 0.986 off fastest rider Folger. Teammate Álex Rins finished ninth, dropping half a second from his time from the morning, plus there was also improvement from Álex Márquez. The Spaniard was almost a second and a half faster than in the first session, placing twelfth.
Ten minutes from the end, rain fell on the track and ended the first day of Moto3 action. Tomorrow sees the final practice session, plus qualifying to decide the Sunday grid.
Miguel Oliveira
FP1 – 2:16.510, 11 laps, 61 km.
FP2 – 2:16.024, 9 laps, 50 km.
“Today the day went pretty well, although we suffered some setbacks in the first session and a mechanical problem did not allow me to be on top form. In the afternoon I suffered a minor crash, but I am fine. We are going in the right direction and I feel comfortable with the setup of the bike. Now we must close the gap to the frontrunners, as we are suffering on the straights compared to the KTMs. Our goal in practice tomorrow is to find a good slipstream and squeeze the most from our bike.”
Álex Rins
FP1 – 2:16.903, 15 laps, 83 km.
FP2 – 2:16.421, 12 laps, 66 km.
“That wasn’t all bad for us. We had a bit more trouble than normal, as it is my first visit to Sepang, but I think that we can be happy with the job that we did. We have to lower our times because today we were riding alone, so there is still room for improvement. The rain affected us and we were unable to continue with our work schedule.”
Álex Márquez
FP1 – 2:18.428, 16 laps, 89 km.
FP2 – 2:16.958, 11 laps, 61 km.
“This morning I had a lot of difficulties, as both I and the bike were not at our best. In the second half of the day things changed; we took an important step forward and I had fun again. We should reflect positively on today’s practices, but will also have to continue improving tomorrow.”
