In only his second outing for the French GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team, Jonas Folger surprised in the opening practice sessions at the Gran Premio de Espana, as the 29-year-old went toe-to-toe with some of the other regular riders.
After his great comeback in Austin two weeks ago when he finished Sunday’s challenging race in twelfth place, Jonas Folger is back as part of the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team this weekend. The Circuito de Jerez is a track he always appreciated in his earlier career, and he is happy to get back on the team’s KTM RC16 in Andalusia. To further get familiarized to the Austrian prototype bike, Folger completed nineteen laps in practice one, setting a personal best of 1’39.545.
In the afternoon, track temperatures indicated almost 50 degrees, but this did not prevent Folger from improving his lap times despite the difficult track conditions. With a 1’38.698, the substitute rider for the still injured Pol Espargaro managed to make a leap by no less than eight tenths of a second. Satisfied with today’s progress, the full-time test rider is now looking forward to qualifying on Saturday and then to his second sprint, which will be held at 15:00 over twelve laps.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, KTM RC16)
P1: P23 - 1´39.545 (1717/18) / P2: P22 - 1´38.698 (19/20)
“I am happy with the progress we made today. The feeling with the bike was much better than in Austin, and that is what I am most happy about. During testing I always had problems with the soft tyres. Today, for the first time, I had the feeling that I can get the maximum out of the tyres. In the second session I followed other guys and was able to keep up with them and learn from them, and I also found out a few things on track myself. Thanks to my team for their work today, I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
#SpanishGP - MotoGP™ Combined Practice Times (P1/P2):
1 Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / Aprilia Racing / Aprilia / 1´36.708 (P2)
2 Maverick VINALES / SPA / Aprilia Racing / Aprilia / 1´36.710 +0.002 (P2)
3 Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / KTM / 1´36.770 +0.062 (P1)
23 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 / KTM / 1´38.698 +1.990 (P2)
#SpanishGP - MotoGP™ Time Schedule for Saturday April 29th (CEST):
10:10 - 10:40 FP
10:50 - 11:05 Q1
11:15 - 11:30 Q2
15:00 Sprint (12 Laps - 53.052 km)
