The Colombian rider finishes fourth on the first day of action in San Marino. Ryusei Yamanaka begins the Grand Prix in 25th position

Jaume Masià has kicked off the San Marino Grand Prix as the fastest rider. The Spanish has been the strongest in the first and second practice and has shown once again that he is not going to give up in the fight for the World Championship. He is now 32 points behind the leader, Dani Holgado, but he will try to take advantage of his good feelings to continue reducing the gap. Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Öncü have finished behind Masià and complete the first top 3 of the weekend. On the other hand, Holgado has ended thirteenth, six tenths off the fastest rider. The Spanish has seen how all of his rivals for the championship have finished inside the top 5 and tomorrow he will have to improve to be able to defend his lead.

Gaviota GASGAS Aspar has started to lay the foundations at the San Marino Grand Prix with David Alonso among the strongest riders. With a best time of 1:42.870, Alonso has finished fourth, just a tenth off the strongest rider of the day. With this time, Alonso is provisionally placed in the positions that give direct access to tomorrow's Q2, waiting to see how Saturday's morning practice goes. The Colombian has lapped on his own for most of the sessions and has set his time without following any reference. Alonso feels that he is competitive on this track and tomorrow he will try to keep improving in order to be well prepared for the race. His teammate at Gaviota GASGAS Aspar, Ryusei Yamanaka, has gone from strength to strength. The Japanese rider has been able to improve his time in the second session, but has not found a good feeling. Tomorrow he will have another opportunity to work with his team to find a bike set-up that allows him to ride more comfortable.

4th David Alonso 1:42.870 (+0.134): “I'm very happy with the first day. We have worked very well. This is a circuit that I like, although we still had to improve some details. We have done it and we have made a step forward. I have ridden quite a lot on my own and I have been competitive. I think the times will be better tomorrow, so we'll have to keep concentrated.”

25th Ryusei Yamanaka 1:43.773 (+1.619): “It has not been an easy day. We have to keep working to improve the set-up of the bike. Tomorrow we'll have another chance and we'll do our best to make a step forward.”