On an eventful Saturday at the Gran Premio de Espana in Jerez de la Frontera, Jonas Folger qualified in P22 on the grid to start the Sprint in the afternoon from the eighth row.
After Jonas Folger ended Friday on a positive note, this morning’s free practice was all about making a few more adjustments and working on a rhythm. A short time later Folger saw himself competing in Q1 for the time attack alongside top guns such as Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder. A darkened sky above the Circuito de Jerez became more threatening, but the rain did not come until the end of the session. However, it remained at a few drops though, just before, Folger improved to a 1’38.492 on his final flying lap, to end up in 22nd spot for the starting grid.
By the time, air temperatures and asphalt temperatures reached values of almost 30 and 50 degrees in the afternoon when the sprint started at 15:00. Due to an accident in turn two right after the start, in which several riders were involved, including Folger’s team mate in GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, the Spaniard Augusto Fernandez, the race had to be stopped. However, all those involved were uninjured.
At the restart, Folger, who also replaces Pol Espargaro in the French team this weekend, maintained his starting position. Despite the difficult track conditions, Folger continued to make progress, closing the gap to the other riders and staying close to the last group throughout the eleven laps to finish the race in P19. The 29-year-old German will now focus on the main race on Sunday. Same place, same time, same riders, only the number of laps will be different when it will be 25 exhausting laps.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, KTM RC16)
Grid position 22nd / Sprint: P19
“The conditions were particularly difficult today. It was brutally hot, and the grip level was therefore very low. So, for me it was the first time I’ve done a race on this bike where it felt like this. In the sprint I was fighting with Iker (Lecuona) until the last lap. I tried to overtake him in the last corner, but I went a bit too far. Fortunately, we have another chance tomorrow, which I want to use to iron that out. Tonight, we still have some problems to solve so that we can make another step in the race tomorrow. But already a big thank you to the whole team. It’s fun to work with them, I can’t wait for race Sunday.”
#SpanishGP - MotoGP™ Qualifyings Results:
1 Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / Aprilia Racing / Aprilia / 1´37.216
2 Jack MILLER / AUS / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / KTM / 1´37.437 +0.221
3 Jorge MARTIN / SPA / Prima Pramac Racing / Ducati / 1´37.458 +0.242
22 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 / KTM / 1´38.492 (Q1)
#SpanishGP - MotoGP™ Sprint (11 Laps):
1 Brad BINDER / RSA / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / KTM / 18´07.055
2 Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / Ducati Lenovo Team / Ducati / +0.428
3 Jack MILLER / AUS / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / KTM / +0.680
19 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 / KTM / +25.530
MotoGP™ World Standing:
1 Marco BEZZECCHI / ITA / Ducati / 65
2 Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / Ducati / 62
3 Maverick VINALES / SPA / Aprilia / 48
#SpanishGP - MotoGP™ Time Schedule for Sunday April 30th (CEST):
10:45 - 10:55 Warm Up
15:00 Race (25 Laps - 110,525 km)
