Positive opening practice sessions at Jerez for Miguel Oliveira

The first Moto3 World Championship round of the year in Europe began on Friday at the Jerez Circuit. Karel Hanika, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder completed the opening day in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively on the combined timesheets.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo team did a thorough job of setting up their bikes, with configurations quite different to those used at the first three Grands Prix of the season.

Starting from scratch, Oliveira faced the first free practice session with a clear objective of finding an optimum setup. In FP1 Miguel Oliveira placed just outside the Top 10 –in twelfth place.

With more confidence in the setups of their KTM bikes, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders pushed hard to start FP2. Despite track temperatures of almost 40 degrees, Oliveira –who could take a second consecutive pole tomorrow– led the second free practice session at one point, although at the end of the session Hanika placed ahead of him in sixth, with a time of 1:47.622.

Oliveira was little more than a tenth of second slower, with a time of 1:47.788 almost identical to the best lap set by Binder in eighth –1:47.835–.

It was a positive day for Red Bull KTM Ajo, who are very confident that there is room for improvement ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session at 12.35pm –local time–.

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“It was a fairly positive day. We understand the direction to take when we encounter unforeseen circumstances and this is what we had today. The conditions in the second session were difficult, with a lot of heat, which meant it was very difficult to make consistent laps. We have to improve our grip and the feeling with the rear, especially when I am leaning over. Tomorrow we will try to improve the tyre life and, as always, work with the race in mind.”

Source: Ajo