The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider will start tomorrow from third position on the grid after finishing four tenths off pole

CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider David Alonso will face the Japanese GP race, his first opportunity to mathematically seal the Moto3 title, from the front row of the grid. The last practice session has been held on a wet track, which has meant that the times have been far from those achieved yesterday. Therefore, Friday’s result has determined the riders who have gone straight to Q2, so Alonso has been one of them. When Q2 has started, the weather has been again the protagonist, as the rain has reappeared in Motegi. Despite this, the asphalt was not yet completely wet and the session has been contested in the dry. Iván Ortolá, Collin Veijer, Ryusei Yamanaka and the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider have been the most competitive in these conditions and have exchanged the top positions for much of the qualifying. The fight for pole has been open until the chequered flag, when Ortolá has completed a lap in 1:54.761, with this time the Spanish has set a new track record that allows him to start tomorrow from first position. Veijer will start from second position after finishing three tenths off pole, while Alonso has ended third, four tenths off. The Colombian will fight tomorrow to get his tenth victory of the season, a win with which he would not depend on the result of his rivals to be champion. If Alonso does not get to the top of the podium, it will be enough for him to score three more points than Dani Holgado, who will start from ninth position, and not to lose more than five to Ortolá and more than seven to Veijer.

CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider Joel Esteban will start his first race in Motegi from the seventh row of the grid. Esteban, who finished outside the top 14 yesterday, has had to compete in Q1, a session in which he has set the fifth best time. The Spanish has ended just off Q2, and as a result, he will have to start from nineteenth position. Tomorrow, Esteban hopes to continue progressing and be able to recover positions to fight to be in the leading group.

3rd David Alonso 1:55.170: “Today I had in mind to ride in any conditions. It is better to see how the track is from the inside than from the garage, because we do not know what conditions there will be tomorrow. In qualifying it has started to rain, but it has stayed that way. I have gone out with the group and, after one lap, I wanted to ride alone, because we have not done many laps this weekend and I wanted to see my pace. I was looking more for how far I could go on my own than for a grid position. Tomorrow, I want to be active, to be ready for wet or dry conditions. My rivals are strong, they have been riding fast, although in the race I think the group could break up.”

19th Joel Esteban 1:57.057: “We have not made it through to Q2, so I am angry with the result. Despite this, I have been improving little by little and the changes we have introduced have helped me. We are going to keep working to see where we have failed and to be able to progress for the race. Tomorrow, we start from the back, but I want to fight to be in the front positions.”