Dani Holgado will start the Catalan Grand Prix from the third row of the grid, whilst his team-mate David Alonso will start from the fifth

The CFMOTO Impulse Aspar Team is confident of making up positions from the opening laps of the race in Barcelona. Dani Holgado and David Alonso faced a difficult qualifying session and will start the sixth round of the season from eighth and thirteenth on the grid respectively tomorrow. Italian rider Celestino Vietti secured a record-breaking pole position, having beaten the previous track record by two tenths. Collin Veijer finished second in Moto2, whilst Manu González, in third, will complete the front row of the starting grid.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya continues to put the Moto2 riders to the test. This morning’s free practice was a crucial session for the CFMOTO Impulse Aspar Team, particularly for David Alonso, who had to work against the clock with the team to fine-tune the set-up following the technical issue that prevented him from completing yesterday’s practice normally. As a result, the Colombian had to compete in Q1, a session he passed with ease before facing the decisive moment of the day. The CFMOTO Impulse Aspar Team rider approached Q2 as an opportunity to continue improving and set his best time of the weekend. His 1:41.806 placed him in thirteenth position, meaning he will start tomorrow’s race from the fifth row. His teammate Dani Holgado, however, did secure his place in Q2 on Friday. The Spaniard continued to ride alone to work on his race pace and find his limits. In qualifying, Holgado went from strength to strength, seeking a good lap time that would secure him at least a place on one of the first two rows of the starting grid. With a time of 1:41.626, his best time in this Grand Prix, Holgado will ultimately start from eighth place and is confident of catching up with the leading group to defend his victory from last season at this very circuit.

8th Dani Holgado 1:41.626 (+0.550): “I was quite strong on all the qualifying laps, I’m happy. The session got complicated because I was quite consistent, working alone like in the morning, but pushing to the limit I almost crashed. I managed to avoid the incident without major physical consequences and after the scare I was able to put in a great lap. I think I could have made it better, because it wasn’t perfect; we always go to the limit in qualifying and two tenths more or less make a big difference. I’m happy with the work we did and I’m really looking forward to competing tomorrow because the race simulation we completed today was very positive, I felt better and better on the bike.”

12+1 David Alonso 1:41.806 (+0.730): “We used qualifying as another practice session to make up for lost time from yesterday, and we were able to take advantage of it to fine-tune both my riding and the bike's setup for the race. We weren't at 100% yet, but we are better than yesterday. Tomorrow we will continue to make the most of the 21 laps to keep understanding things. Overall, I'm happy with the result considering where we were coming from. Now we need to prepare well for the race.”