David Alonso and Ryusei Yamanaka open the Spanish Grand Prix with positive feelings

The Moto3 riders have kicked off the Spanish Grand Prix with a very close result in the first practice session in which 12 riders have finished less than a second off the fastest rider, Deniz Öncü. Despite the equality, the Turkish has started the weekend as the fastest rider with a time of 1:46.173, four tenths of a second quicker than Jaume Masià, who has finished second. In third place has ended up the leader of the World Championship, Dani Holgado, who has started the Grand Prix ahead of his main pursuer in the overall standings, Diogo Moreira. Tomorrow, the small category riders will have another chance to improve their times before the qualifying sessions.

Gaviota GASGAS Aspar riders have started the day in provisional Q2 positions, with David Alonso tenth and Ryusei Yamanaka thirteenth. However, in the second practice, the rising temperatures have worsened the track conditions and most of the riders have not been able to improve their times. David Alonso has finished the day twelfth with a best time of 1:47.102. His teammate Ryusei Yamanaka has just missed out on the top fourteen after a couple of riders overtook him in the combined standings. The Japanese rider has finished ten thousandths of a second off the fourteenth placed, Matteo Bertelle, one of the few riders who has improved his time in the second practice session. Yamanaka will fight tomorrow for qualifying directly to Q2 and to get a good grid position.

12th David Alonso 1:47.102 (+0.929): “It was a positive first day. The first practice session was not bad, but we needed to improve my riding and the set-up of the bike. In the second session we were able to solve the problems, but the temperature and the wind prevented us from improving our time. Tomorrow's third practice will be faster and we're ready for it.”

15th Ryusei Yamanaka 1:47.211 (+1.038): “The feeling today was positive. In the second practice session the conditions were difficult because of the wind. We have to stay focused, tomorrow we will have another chance to get a good lap time.”