Salom on record pace on first day of Catalan GP

Just like he did at Mugello, Luis Salom was the fastest rider on the opening day of practice for the 2013 Catalan GP. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider rode a perfect lap in the first session, setting a new Moto3 circuit record. Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis spent the day looking at different setups for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Salom came out strong in the first free practice session of the weekend, setting the best time of the runout on his penultimate lap. The Red Bull KTM Ajo man surprised the Moto3 field with a 1:52.054 time that gave him an 0.8s advantage over second best rider, Maverick Viñales. Teammates Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis focused on trying out new configurations for their KTM machine and took quickest times of 1:54.621 and 1:55.556, respectively.

In the second session the asphalt temperature reached 52ºC, increasing the demands on the riders. Luis Salom experimented with chassis setup variations and took the fifth fastest time albeit without matching his morning lap. Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis found better lines and lowered their times from the morning.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo trio will look to best set up their KTM bikes for qualifying tomorrow. Zulfahmi Khairuddin qualified on the front row for the first time in his career for last year’s race.

Luis Salom
“What I can take from today is what we tried in the morning, which went really well. I am happy, because we found a good setup. In the afternoon we wanted to try out some different things, because the bike works well and the team are on form. I got a great time this morning and I hope that we can continue on from that tomorrow. It is a shame about what happened to Folger, and I hope that he gets better soon.”

Source: Red Bull KTM Ajo Motorsport