With barely enough time to catch their breath after last weekend's thriller at Assen the Moto3 boys were back on track today at Sachsenring, where the action promises to be just as close after no fewer than seventeen riders lapped within the same second in today's free practice. Jakub Kornfeil set the pace this morning, giving way to series leader Maverick Viñales in the afternoon, although top spot could easily have gone to any number of riders who all took their turn at leading the time sheets throughout the day.
For the first time Héctor Faubel and Alberto Moncayo took to the track resplendent in the red colours of MAPFRE, main sponsor of the Aspar Team in Moto2 and now also in Moto3. The change seems to have had a positive effect on the pair so far, with Faubel lapping second fastest this morning and fourth in the afternoon with a consistent pace in the 1'29s, often threatening P1 with his split times through the first three sections only to fade in T4 – the key to his pole position challenge tomorrow. Moncayo has also taken a step forward here in Germany, lapping fifth in the morning and ninth in the afternoon but tenth on the combined sheets. The Spaniard is hoping a new engine will propel him into the battle for a top grid position in tomorrow's qualifying practice.
4th Héctor Faubel 1.29.156 (40 laps): “I think we've started this Grand Prix in the right way and I am happy with the job we've done today. We spent the whole day riding on used rubber and based our plan completely around our race set-up. We are starting to feel the benefit on track of all the hard work we are doing and we must keep going on this upward curve. We need to work on the front end of the bike for tomorrow. I feel very comfortable in the first two sectors but we're getting a lot of chatter in the second half of the lap so we need to smooth it out if we want to be competitive tomorrow. We need to improve our pace in the fast corners but I am feeling calm and happy that we're working well and we'll be closer to the top tomorrow. So far we are fourth fastest and less than half a second away so it looks like red could be our lucky colour!”
10th Alberto Moncayo 1.29.370 (38 laps): “I am really happy. I had a very good feeling with the bike today even though I didn't manage to get a perfect lap in because of the traffic. There are sectors where I am doing really well and others where we need to work on. We used the old engine today just to finish it off before fitting the new one tomorrow. So we have that to try as well as a new exhaust, which will be interesting and should help push us much closer to the front. My feeling with the chassis is very good so we'll just keep working in the same way tomorrow and I'm sure we'll make more progress.”
Aspar Mapfre Press Release
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