At 6pm in Qatar the first Moto3 qualifying session commenced in Qatar with the riders waiting until the last ten minutes of the session to really up the pace and contest the top spots. It was unclear whether the riders would really be able to push hard due to the wind and dust at Losail, making work even harder than Friday’s tricky conditions. Four riders have shown the pace to go for victory on Sunday, Salom, Viñales, Rins and Folger being a notch above the rest. Only those four have broken the 2’08 barrier and they are the most likely pódium candidates.
MAPFRE Aspar’s, Jonas Folger, stuck to his plans and headed the timesheet with a couple of early fast laps. He then got on with additional work trying some softer tyres but the feeling was not great so he lost time there. The German then got back on the pace towards the end of the session and showed his strength in this class, contesting the top spot with Salom and Viñales up to the last lap. He eventually ended fourth having shown good race pace. Folger is one of the favourites for the win in Sunday’s race having been on the pace all weekend. Meanwhile, his MAPFRE Aspar Team colleague Eric Granado starts from 25th in his first Moto3 race. The Brazilian was hindered by front end issues but is highly motivated for his competitive debut.
4th Jonas Folger 2.07.894 (13 laps):
“Qualifying started well with a few good, fast laps but when we went onto a softer tyre the back end was too grippy and it was hard to maintain a line. So we went back onto the same tyres we’ve been using all weekend and the feeling got better. Talking to the team it seems we have a rear end issue to fix in warm-up, so apart from this small problem I’m happy because we have a generally good setting for tomorrow. I wanted to be on the front row, but we all have a similar pace at the front and as long as nothing unexpected happens we’ll be up there tomorrow.”
25th Eric Granado 2.10.798 (16 laps):
“The trac kwas as tricky or if not trickier than yesterday and it was hard to get started. Eventually I found a group to follow and I watched how they were riding the track. Half way through I tried some intermediate tyres for the race and spent some time on consecutive laps to improve my feeling. On fast corners the front end is a bit unstable so I thought I was going to run off but I stuck to it to get the laps done. We’ll make some changes in warm-up and in the race I’ll start quite far back. If we can improve in warm-up though I can move up a few places.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto3 Press Release
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