Just five days after rubbing shoulders for the race win in Japan the Moto3 riders were back on track several thousand kilometres away today as the first free practice sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix took place at the Sepang circuit, where as well as dealing with the physical fatigue of their travels the riders also had to contend with 35ºC temperatures and 60% humidity. The day started with the surprise absence of Maverick Viñales following a split with his team and it ended with another storm as the heavens opened for the final few minutes of the afternoon session for the minor category.
MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger proved that he has moved on from the racing incident that ruled him out of the running for victory at Motegi with a dominant performance today, leading both free practice sessions. Sepang is one of his favourite circuits and he is already threatening to break the 2'15 barrier on the Moto3 bike, clocking an impressive best effort of 2'15.038 this afternoon. Luca Amato faced the daunting challenge of finding his way around this vast circuit on his first visit here, ending the day with the 28th fastest time.
1st Jonas Folger 2.15.038 (23 laps):
“I am very happy because we have done a great job with the set-up today. Thanks to that I feel really comfortable on the bike and once again we have taken another step forward – not just on race day but also in practice now too. Tomorrow we will continue working in the same way and try to keep improving so that we can build on the performance from Japan. It is a shame that it rained for the last ten minutes because I think we could have improved our lap times much further. In any case we have started this round well and that gives us extra motivation for tomorrow.”
28th Luca Amato 2.18.687 (25 vueltas):
“Sepang is enormous – it is the first time I have ever ridden somewhere so huge. Some parts are tricky but I like it. The first session was a bit strange because I was trying to memorize the track and find some reference points but it was so difficult. In the afternoon we kept working at it and little by little I was able to get a feel for the place. We lost ten minutes at the end because of the rain, which was a shame because I was starting to find some pace. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off tomorrow and adapt to this track as quickly as possible.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto3 Press Release
You can give your opinion on our Facebook page here
Get the latest update on our Twitter page here
