Holgado and Alonso have secured their places in Saturday’s Q2 after finishing fifth and ninth respectively

The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team riders have achieved their first objective of the weekend in Jerez and will compete in Q2 tomorrow to fight for the top positions on the starting grid. After a three-week break, Dani Holgado and David Alonso have completed the first day of practice feeling positive and finished in fifth and ninth place respectively. Australian rider Senna Agius set the pace on Friday, beating Alonso López by just 79 thousandths. Barry Baltus rounded out the top three, one tenth of a second off the fastest time. 

Dani Holgado and David Alonso were back on their bikes after a three-week break since the last race, which took place in the United States last March. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team riders maintained their positive momentum and both worked to find the perfect set-up to secure a place in Q2 this afternoon. Holgado finished free practice in fourth place, less than a tenth of a second off the benchmark time, whilst Alonso was tenth despite suffering a spectacular crash – fortunately without any physical consequences – which prevented him from returning to the track. In the afternoon, both riders managed to improve their times and focused on staying within the top fourteen. Holgado felt very comfortable once again and tried to catch up with the fastest riders, although his 1:39.214 placed him in fifth position, but only two tenths off the fastest time. His teammate David Alonso approached the afternoon session with great determination following the work carried out by the team to repair his bike and once again showed great pace from start to finish. The Colombian finished ninth, with a time of 1:39.405, four tenths off the reference. Thanks to these results, the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team will contest Q2 ready to secure top positions on the starting grid for one of the most eagerly anticipated Grand Prix races of the season. 

5th Dani Holgado 1:39.214 (+0.241): “I’m happy with the work we’ve done today, both myself and the team, because they’ve given me a pretty fast bike and I’ve tried to make the most of it. I finished in the top five in both sessions and that’s very positive. I have the pace; now we need to try and improve a few details as there’s room for improvement in certain sections of the circuit. The aim tomorrow will be to get a good result; it’s very important to start from the first two rows of the grid at Jerez because it’s a small circuit where overtaking is very difficult. I’ll try to set a good time so I can fight for the leading positions from the very first lap of the race.”

9th David Alonso 1:39.405 (+0.432): “I’m happy with the work on this first day, because after three weeks off the bike I’ve felt good riding. I feel more comfortable maintaining the pace and I’m improving a lot in that respect. Tomorrow morning, I want to try and improve in the fast corners to put in a good lap in qualifying.”