The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has led the first day of practice in Thailand and has beaten the previous track record by more than a second

Moto3 doesn’t stop and less than a week after the last race, the riders in the lightweight category are back on track at the Thai GP, a weekend that has started with CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider David Alonso in first position. Alonso continues to set the pace and on the first day of practice in Buriram he has shown once again that he is one step ahead of the rest. In the morning session, the world champion has only needed ten minutes to set a new track record after completing a lap in 1:41.844, a time that he has been able to lower to 1:40.544 in that same practice. Alonso has beaten by 1.3 seconds the previous track record, held by Deniz Öncü since last season. In the afternoon, the world champion has been once again the fastest, although he has not improved his time from the morning. The young Colombian has set a register of 1:40:703 and is the only rider to have gone under 1:41 on the first day in Thailand. Joel Kelso has finished second, three tenths off Alonso's time, and Adrián Fernández has ended third, four tenths off. All this on a day in which the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has crashed twice.

His teammate Joel Esteban continues to gain experience in Moto3 and this weekend he faces his fourth consecutive GP on a track that is unknown to him. In Buriram, the young rookie has got off to a good start and has set the thirteenth best time in the first session. Esteban has been able to improve more than two tenths from one session to the next and has reduced his gap with the leader from 1.3 seconds to nine tenths. Despite his progress, the Spanish has only been able to finish eighteenth and tomorrow he will have to improve to be able to go straight into Q2.

1st David Alonso 1:40.703: “I have been very comfortable from the start. The crash in the morning has been testing the limit and the one in the afternoon has been a bit of a concentration lapse. The pace in the second session has not been the best, because I have made several mistakes. The feelings are really positive, but we must not lose focus, we must be very concentrated because here with the heat everything is more complicated. The race will be tough due to the high temperatures. Tomorrow we will work to see which tyre is the best for the race, because there will be a lot of degradation.”

18th Joel Esteban 1:41.650 (+0.947): “We have recovered the good feeling. I have felt pretty comfortable with both the bike and the track. We have worked really well, although there are still things to improve. We are nine tenths off the best time and less than half a tenth off the provisional Q2 positions. Everything is very tight, but tomorrow we will give our all to take a step forward.”