RW Racing GP experienced a good start of the 2013 season. In the first free practice for the Moto3 riders on the Losail circuit in Qatar Jasper Iwema set a promising 9th time. His team mate Jakub Kornfeil was on his tail and finished 11th. The Czech improved to 10th in the second practice session. The Dutchman had to settle for 20th after a small mistake in his flying lap.
In the first practice many riders had difficulties to stay on track due to the lack of grip on the dusty track in the desert. During the session the racing line got cleaner and laptimes improved. Iwema and Kornfeil were in or around the top 10 for most of the session.
The second free practice was obviously different. The track was cleaned up after the free practices for Moto2 and MotoGP and the pace went up dramatically. Kornfeil managed to go over 2 seconds faster than in the first session. Halfway during the practice the Czech went up into 5th but he could hold on to that position. Even though he set his fastest time in his last lap he dropped back to 10th. Would Kornfeil had been able to ride his ideal lap (the sum of the best partial times of each of the four sections of the circuit) it would have put him on the provisional 4th place.
Iwema was struggling a bit more to improve his lap times and found his name back in 20th position in the end. He improved his time from the first session by more than half a second but could have been much faster had he not made a slight mistake in his final lap.
Former RW Racing GP rider Luis Salom set the fastest time: 2.07.341. Only Jonas Folger managed to stay close to him.
Jakub Kornfeil (10):
"I’m happy with these first results. I was riding on my own for most of the session while being in the right group can make a big difference here. We know where we can improve and we know we have to, to stay close to the top 5."
Jasper Iwema (20):
"The first session was great. I am really happy with 9th. I was going in the right direction in the second practice as well, when I made a mistake. In my flying lap I missed a gear in the third section of the circuit. That cost me a few tenths at least. It’s a pity and I’m disappointed, but I know I can ride faster."
Team manager Jarno Janssen:
"I’m satisfied. It’s only the first day and there is still a lot to improve. Both riders did a good job and are close to the group where they belong. In this track it is important to stay in the right group, with the right pace. But obviously everybody is still trying to find their place in the field. The gaps are really small. Kornfeil is only 3 tenths of a second off number 4"
RW Racing Press Release
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