Dani Holgado and David Alonso will compete in Q2 at Portimao after finishing sixth and seventh respectively

The CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team riders did their homework in a great start to the weekend at Portimao. Dani Holgado and David Alonso finished sixth and seventh respectively on Friday, securing direct entry into Q2. Aron Canet was the fastest rider of the day, setting a new track record in the intermediate category. Jake Dixon was second, just one tenth of a second behind the Spaniard, while Albert Arenas took third place.

The first day of the Portuguese Grand Prix ended on a very positive note for the CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team. Dani Holgado and David Alonso completed this morning's free practice with the aim of adapting to one of the most technical circuits on the calendar. In the afternoon, both riders took to the track determined to secure a place in Saturday's Q2. The rookies in the intermediate category took advantage of the experience gained in the pre-season test in Portimao to continue improving their times and secure a place in the top 10 of the standings. With just two minutes to go before the end of the day, David Alonso crashed while in seventh place, half a second off the reference time. The Colombian then witnessed his teammate Dani Holgado also crash at the same spot, just one lap later, while running in sixth position. Neither of them suffered any physical consequences, nor were they overtaken by any of their rivals, so tomorrow they will be able to compete for the top positions on the starting grid.

6th Dani Holgado 1:41.772 (+0.562): “We completed the first day in Portimao with a good feeling, although we have to keep working to improve. It's a complicated circuit; it requires a lot of information to understand it. I'll try to use tomorrow's session to continue working on adapting and putting in quality laps with the race in mind. We finished the day being fast, but above all, with room for improvement. We're going to work to try and close the gap with the others and be stronger tomorrow.”

7th David Alonso 1:47.793 (+0.583): “I'm okay but it was a fast crash and my arm was a bit sore. It was 'funny' because both my teammate and I crashed in the same place. I saw Holgado's crash live, but luckily we're both fine. The track is fun, but it's very different from Moto3: now everything happens very fast and you have much less reaction time. We didn't do many laps this morning, but we're calm because we're getting better every day. We have to keep putting in laps to be ready for the race.”