CEV Repsol, Albacete: Quartararo, Raffin and Rodríguez head qualifying sessions
Quartararo in Moto3™, Raffin in Moto2™-Superstock 600 and Rodríguez in Superbike dominated qualifying practice of the FIM CEV Repsol at the Circuit of Albacete today. The increasing heat as the day went on prevented riders improving on times set in the first session of qualifying practice in the morning.
As the only rider to go under one minute 33 seconds – 1.32,797 – in Moto3, Fabio Quartararo (FRA-Honda) adds yet another pole position to his growing resume. Rivals Jorge Navarro (SPA-Ioda Honda) and Gabriel Rodrigo (SPA-KTM) – who is also developing well this season – will start from second and third slots on the grid. Behind them come Hiroki Ono (JAP-TSR Honda), Jorge Martín (SPA-Mahindra), continuing to replace the injured Albert Arenas, and Remy Gardner (AUS-KTM).
As in previous rounds, Jesko Raffin (SWI-Kalex) was imposing. He will be joined on the front row of the grid by Sebas Porto (ARG-Kalex) and Dakota Mamola (BEL-Suter), both only a few tenths behind the pole position rider. It has not taken long for the GRT Aspar Racing Team rider – who started mid-season – to prove himself one of the top riders of the category. On the second row will be Xavi Vierge (SPA-Tech 3), Alan Techer (FRA-Tech 3) and Florian Alt (GER-Kalex), all with times in the 1.32s. In the Superstock 600 category, Ferrán Casas (SPA-Yamaha) consolidated his position as the outstanding rider.
There was something of a turn up in the Superbike class: the overall leader of the qualifying sessions was Ángel Rodríguez (SPA-Suzuki) ahead of Kenny Noyes (USA-Kawasaki). “Rodri” already knows what it is to be a champion in this championship, and became the first rider to break Noyes’ dominance of the pole position this season. Completing the first row in third slot, as in MotorLand and Barcelona-Catalunya, will be Iván Silva (SPA-BMW). New Team Stratos team member Raúl García (SPA-Kawasaki) was the best privateer rider.
Tomorrow’s race schedule is as follows (local time):
11:00 Superbike (20 laps)
12:00 Moto2-Supertock 600 (20 laps)
13:00 Moto3 (19 laps)
14:00 Superbike (20 laps)
As ever, entry is free on Saturday and Sunday and fans who are interested can download the invitation attached to this press release. In addition, the FIM CEV Repsol fans on Sunday to go to the Accreditation Centre can collect a pass to take part in the Pit Lane walk that will take place before the start of racing. On top of that, fans attending the circuit on Sunday will be able to follow each the races closely without missing any of the action, thanks to the giant screen installed at the Curva Crivillé.
In Spain fans can enjoy the racing via the Movistar MotoGP channel of Movistar TV and the Energy channel of Mediaset Spain. Both channels share the signal and broadcast live. French fans can follow the Moto3 racing live on Eurosport, and in Italy the broadcast of Moto3 race will be provided by Sky. In other countries, the races can be seen on the CEV Repsol channel on Youtube.
Source: CEV Repsol
