After missing the French Round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup through injury, Indonesian 16-year-old Veda Pratama took a superb pole position making full use of his KTM in a windy Aragón Qualifying session.
Cup points leader Hakim Danish was 7th fastest after taking pole at the first two events of the season. The Malaysian’s arch-rival Brian Uriarte was second fastest with first-year Rookie David González completing the front row.
Veda Pratama 1st
Off the pace and down in 21st place in FP1 Pratama found his confidence in the afternoon. “Yeah, I’m happy with the result and it was a good lap time. I followed the group and tried to push, I found my focus. I felt good on the bike this afternoon and enjoyed riding.”
“My foot is not causing me any problems so I think I can have a good race tomorrow.”
Brian Uriarte 2nd
“More or less OK,” said the 16-year-old Spaniard who is never happy with second. “It was difficult to make the lap, but we are happy with it because I did it by myself. But on the other side, I thought I was going to improve it at the end, but I caught the group and they were super slow.”
“It’s tricky with the headwind, even with the lower gear I was not on the limiter down the back straight.”
David González 3rd
“I am very happy for this P3, great for the race. I think it will be a big group at the front and I think I can go faster, the bike is great, we didn’t really change anything. I enjoy the track, I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite, but I do have fun here,” smiled the Spanish 17-year-old.
Giulio Pugliese 4th
“I am happy with that, we improved the bike through the day, I was having trouble getting it to turn, but working on the front suspension sorted that out. Slipstream is so important here and the wind direction, so we’ll see what happens in the race,” concluded the 16-year-old Italian.
Kristian Daniel Jr. 5th
“I was feeling really good all the time,” enthused the 16-year-old American. “I just didn’t put together the perfect lap so I didn’t manage the time from the test, but I’m happy with the bike and that’s the best Qualifying I have done so far. The bike is great so let’s do this.”
Carter Thompson 6th
“I felt good everywhere, the bike is just as we ran it at the test and I feel really good,” stated the Australian 17-year-old. “I just missed out not having the slipstream at the right time for a better lap time. The speed is there. Track conditions are a bit slippery, but you can’t change that.
Hakim Danish 7th
“This weekend I felt good in the practice, we only missed pole in the QP because it was a big group, too many riders and you can’t do the time here without a slipstream. I have good feeling and in the race, I will push.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 1 is at 16:10 CET on Saturday and Race 2 is on Sunday at 08:45, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
For more info checkout our dedicated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup News page Rookies Cup News
Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
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