Seventh place for Alonso Lopez on Catalan GP grid, Sergio Garcia 13th

The Estrella Galicia 0,0 riders contested a third Free Practice session and Qualifying for the Catalan GP on Saturday, deciding their grid places for the latest round of the Moto3 season.

Weather conditions were clear, but a rise in temperature of 8°C between FP3 and Q2, plus the wind blowing around the track, had an effect on proceedings.

After topping the combined timesheets on Friday with a 1:49.167 lap, in FP3 Alonso Lopez continued to lower his times, finishing eighth. His best lap was a 1:48.837.

Going straight through to Q2, he occupied third place in the grid-deciding session up until the final minutes, in which hot laps from other riders meant his time of 1:49.072 put him seventh.

Alonso Lopez
“The track temperature increased a lot in qualifying. The first combination of tyres that I used didn’t work well, and I had hardly any grip. We already knew that our other rubber option was going to perform better, and that’s the way it turned out, because we continued to lower our times. If I had caught a slipstream, we would surely have improved even more. There are riders who are very good on a flying lap, but in terms of pace I think that my teammate and I are very well prepared for the race.”

Moto3 World Championship rookie Sergio Garcia was second overall for the first two Free Practice sessions on Friday, with a 1:49.184, and in FP3 he lowered that time to 1:48.822 -claiming seventh position and going into Q2 for the third consecutive race.

In qualifying he was determined to make further improvement, but the increase in track temperature did not allow him to do so. He would take 13th on the grid for his home race with a 1:49.700 time.

Sergio Garcia
“It was a productive day, in which I rode alone in the morning and set good times. However, I didn’t feel as comfortable when we went out in qualifying. I tried to ride fast, but the times weren’t there. I think I lacked a good slipstream, but in any case it doesn’t matter now. We are in good shape for the race tomorrow, although we will have to get a good start.”