The CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team rider clocked the eighth-fastest time of the day on his comeback following a collarbone injury and will be in Q2 tomorrow alongside his team-mate Marco Morelli, who finished eleventh
The CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team has kicked off the Aragon Grand Prix having achieved the weekend’s first objective. The team’s riders have secured their places in tomorrow’s Q2 after Máximo Quiles finished eighth and Marco Morelli eleventh. The Spaniard passed his medical examination yesterday and confirmed his return to MotorLand Aragón following surgery on his collarbone after the crash he suffered at Silverstone two weeks ago. David Almansa was the fastest in Moto3, beating Rico Salmela, who finished second, by 49 thousandths of a second. Valentín Perrone was third, four tenths of a second behind the leader.
The first day of practice proved to be quite a challenge for Máximo Quiles. The CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team rider took to the track focused on assessing his physical condition on the bike after two weeks spent recovering from his collarbone injury. After just a few laps, Quiles was already in fourth place, confirming that he was feeling confident. Following a final positive medical check-up, the Moto3 leader continued with his usual work plan to prepare as well as possible for the afternoon session. The crucial moment came in the second session of the day, which decides who goes straight through to Q2. Here, Quiles managed to improve on his morning times by almost one and a half seconds. After completing a total of 14 laps, he finished in eighth place with a time of 1:58.114. Meanwhile, Marco Morelli also had a positive Friday on his Moto3 debut at the Aragon circuit. Despite not feeling 100 per cent comfortable on the bike, the CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team rider made a big leap forward in the afternoon and also significantly improved his lap times. Thanks to his 1:58.293, Morelli finished in eleventh place to secure his place in Q2.
8th Máximo Quiles 1:58.114 (+0.641): “I took it easy today to see how my collarbone would respond. I felt great, and that’s the most positive thing. There are a few corners where I struggle a bit, the right-handers, but almost the entire circuit has left-handers, and that helps. I had some doubts about how I would feel because the surgery was still very recent, and it was complicated to get here, but as soon as I got on the bike and did a couple of corners, I thought, ‘It’s not going to bother me much.’ Everyone has done a tremendous job so that I could be here this weekend. I feel good and I’ve continued working with the team in the same way as always. Today I completed quite a few laps, but it wasn’t a race distance. Tomorrow will be a slightly longer day, although I don’t think there will be any problem. The track was quite dirty this morning and very slippery, so it was quite a challenge, but I achieved my goal for the day and I’m very happy.”
11th Marco Morelli 1:58.293 (+0.820): “The important thing today was to get into Q2 and we did it, but it hasn’t been easy to get a good feeling. I felt a bit uncomfortable on the bike, we have to keep working to improve and find a solution that will allow me to ride more freely. Tomorrow we’ll use free practice to focus on that and make everything a bit easier. There’s still work to be done, but I’m happy with the result.”
