Strong Barcelona qualifying: Muñoz in row two, Pini in row three
David Muñoz and Guido Pini from the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP team put in impressive performances at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in both practice and qualifying, securing starting positions in rows two and three for the 15th race of the season.
Local hero David Muñoz made a brilliant debut in front of his home crowd, finishing second in the first free practice session and confirming his form in the second session as the second fastest rider. This put the 19-year-old directly into Q2, where he fought for the top spots on Saturday afternoon. With a time of 1:47.096, he was just 0.219 seconds behind pole-setter David Almansa and will start from fourth place on the second row, highly motivated. The Spaniard feels well prepared for the 18-lap race and believes his KTM is a strong overall package for the fight for victory.
Moto3 rookie Guido Pini also made a strong impression in Spain. The Italian showed his class with sixth place in FP1 and fourth in qualifying. In Q2, the 17-year-old finally secured eighth place on the grid in the third row, giving him a promising starting position for Sunday's race at 11:00.
Results
FP1
1. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.483
2. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.671 (+0.188)
3. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'48.007 (+0.524)
6. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'48.135 (+0.652)
Practice
1. Valentin PERRONE/ ARG/ KTM – 1'47.584
2. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.680 (+0.096)
3. David ALMANSA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'47.779 (+0.195)1
4. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'47.961 (+0.377)
FP2
1. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.365
2. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'47.706 (+0.341)
3. David ALMANSA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'47.906 (+0.541)
4. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'48.046 (+0.681)
16. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'48.591 (+1.226)
Q2
1. David ALMANSA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'46.877
2. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 1'47.079 (+0.202)
3. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.086 (+0.209)
4. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'47.096 (+0.219)
8. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'47.254 (+0.377)
