Place for young people! KTM must have smiled when reading the timesheet for this Friday which marked the return to MotoGP after months of anxiety and confinement. It highlighted two of its rookies in the person of Brad Binder, in the official colors, and Iker Lecuona, resident of a Tech3 team that should not be called satellite or B. But well, at this stage, the equal of the Mattighofen factory. Miguel Oliveira's youngest child is thus boldly in a top 10 which temporarily automatically puts him in Q2...
The times are tight this year and the KTM are not dropped. Far from there. So there are opportunities to be seized, and that’s precisely what young people love. At the house of Tech3, the name is Iker Lecuona. Here he is, downright ninth in the general classification for this Friday day... Better still, the Spaniard is only 0.364 seconds behind the leader and only 0.002 seconds behind Pol Espargaro on KTM the fastest !
« I am very happy » comments super Iker. “ This morning I started working on the bike and I improved a lot. Later I put a new tire on and I finished my first FP1 in the top 10, so it's really, really good. I knew it was difficult to do a fast lap in the afternoon, so I worked harder for the race ».
« I'm very satisfied, especially because I'm so close to the top, finishing just 0,364 seconds behind the fastest driver with 19 laps on the soft tire. Overall I'm really happy and hope we can continue this tomorrow ».
Oliveira is champing at the bit
For its part, Miguel Oliveira was working on his pace for a long distance using the same tires throughout FP1. In significantly warmer conditions in the second session of the day, he didn't have the chance to improve his pace over a single fast lap, but he ultimately finished 0,583 seconds out of the top 10 overall.
« Of course, the position is not what we want and it doesn't really reflect our work because we did not attack the clock either in the morning or in the afternoon » explains the Portuguese. “ I think our pace is much closer to that of the best than the position shows. The team did a great job, we found solutions to gain grip and we are happy for today. Tomorrow we have the chance to get into the top 10, everything is very tight, but I think we can get there ". The KTM will they be the sensation of this Spanish Grand Prix?
MotoGP Jerez 1 J1: times
