RAÚL FERNÁNDEZ STILL ON FORM IN ARGENTINA

The Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team rider begins the weekend inside the top ten on a track previously unknown to he and Aleix Viu, who covers for Albert Arenas in Argentina

The second round of the MotoGP World Championship has commenced at the Autodromo de Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina) with Britain’s John McPhee at the head of the Moto3 pack, closely followed by Italy’s Tony Arbolino. The lap time for McPhee (1:49.892) allowed him to lead the opening day on a track not yet in the prime condition that would permit the lightweight class riders to extract the most from their machines. Between the morning and afternoon practice sessions of Friday, the riders took more than a second off their lap times, but another second needs to be found before being able to worry Miguel Oliveira’s lap record (1:48.461) from 2015. Today’s top three was completed by the Italian, Niccolò Antonelli, while championship leader Kaito Toba ended Day 1 in 13th position.

Raúl Fernández remained very much in touch from the start of proceedings, sealing a top ten spot despite having to learn the circuit. The Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team rider comes to this second event of the campaign with vivid memories of his seventh place finish in the Qatar season-opener and is looking to maintain the same clear working methods which helped achieve that. Today he was quick to establish a good feeling, not least with the front tyre, to allow him to ride within himself and end the day feeling satisfied. Aleix Viu makes his debut on the Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team KTM in Argentina. The Catalan rider, who competes for the team in the Moto3 Junior World Championship, rides in place of Albert Arenas at this race and is enjoying his first taste of the South American venue. On Saturday, Viu will look to mix it with the group and move up the order on the combined timesheets.

10th Raúl Fernández 1:50.743 (29 laps): “It is incredible to start my first day in Argentina in the top ten. We are here to learn but, if you had told me before the start of the season that at this point we would already be finishing amongst the best in the category, I would have taken it. I’m enjoying myself a lot – and that is the important thing. Today has been a very positive day because we are working well together and I feel comfortable. As soon as we fitted the tyre I like, everything was running like clockwork. We just need to carry on like this. This track is particularly tricky, it is very wide and there are still corners where I’m not on the optimum line.”

28th Aleix Viu 1:52.114 (31 laps): “I’m happy with the job we have done. I put in a lot of laps, just trying to learn the track as quickly as possible. I managed to make up time by riding alone but the next step will be to find a good group to be able to learn more and put in a quick lap as, here in particular, it makes a big difference. That will be the main aspect to improve for tomorrow because my adaptation to the bike and circuit are definitely already headed in the right direction.”