Quartararo places seventh, Navarro eighth and Herrera fifteenth on first day of free practice at Barcelona track.
The three Repsol Moto3 riders made a good start to the seventh round of the season. After the first two free practice sessions, Fabio Quartararo had set the seventh fastest time, Jorge Navarro the eighth quickest and Maria Herrera the fifteenth fastest. On a day dominated by World Championship leader Danny Kent, Quartararo was just 0.169 thousandths behind, Navarro 0.264 and Herrera 0.637 at the final count.
The weather was good for both practice sessions on Friday, despite forecasts for rain. Previous experience at the track –all three have competed there in the FIM CEV Repsol– allowed Quartararo, Navarro and Herrera to focus on setting up their bikes in the opening session. Navarro was quickest, with a time of 1:51.988, and Quartararo 0.777 back in eighth. Herrera was fifteenth –just over 1 second behind Navarro.
In the afternoon the lap times improved and the three Repsol riders were all amongst the Top 15, with Quartararo seventh, Navarro eighth and Herrera fifteenth. Tomorrow sees the third free practice and a qualifying session to define the grid for Sunday’s race.
Fabio Quartararo
7th – 1:51.806, 33 laps, 156 km
“It’s been a difficult day of practices, but we’ve begun to find the feeling we need to prepare the bike with Sunday’s race in mind. I struggled a bit to find my usual pace and I had to push hard. Today we have to work with the team to try to improve and take that little step forward that we need. The track conditions changed significantly during the day, because in the morning the temperature was very good but the track was dirtier. In the second session the opposite happened: We had increased grip but the temperatures were also higher. This makes finding a setup more difficult, but it gives us an idea of how to work tomorrow. Hopefully it will not rain again tonight and the track won’t be dirty.”
Jorge Navarro
8th – 1:51.901, 35 laps, 165 km
“Today was a positive day because I set a good pace right from the morning session. In the afternoon we did a lot of laps with the hard tyre and tomorrow we will work with the medium compound, but on the last stint today we used a choice that went well. I couldn’t set a top time because I had some problems with other riders, but the feeling and my pace are good. The important thing is that we obtained some conclusions that will allow us to continue to improve tomorrow.”
Maria Herrera
15th – 1:52.274, 33 laps, 156 km
“It was a very positive start to the weekend for us. We worked hard on the setup of the bike for this circuit, even though it is a bit bumpy, and so far it is going well for us. I rode with some fast riders and I was able to follow them without too many problems. Tomorrow the track will be a bit cleaner and I will have to lower my times. Hopefully on Sunday we can fight for my first points.”
