Pedro Acosta put himself in pole position for the home stretch in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. The 16-year-old Spaniard has a handsome points lead but is not slacking off in Valencia.
Just 0.067 seconds slower, Daniel Holgado is determined to put him under pressure as is David Salvador who makes it an all Spanish front row of KTM RC 250 Rs.
Breaking the home country dominance is Mario Aji, the 16-year-old Indonesian, who heads Row 2 after the track dried from the wet free sessions leaving just a few damp patches for Qualifying.
Acosta going for it
“This is not the time to start thinking about the championship,” stated Acosta. “I will go to win. Taking pole positions gives me added confidence.”
“It wasn’t an easy session because in the first corner there was water and it was hard to know how much to push there, I didn’t have a good feeling here. I was pushing a bit more lap by lap all round the track and in the end I didn’t get the perfect lap because other riders were causing me problems but I am still happy with the Qualifying because I am in pole.”
“I am well focussed but really the pole means nothing for the race. The front suspension is a little soft because most of practice was wet but I think I don’t want to change anything.”
Holgado will take it
“I am very happy with the Qualifying,” enthused the 15-year-old. “I am very motivated and confident for the race. In the wet practice sessions I was not so happy, the bike was sliding around a lot but in the Qualifying it was much better and the bike was great. I think I can really fight with Pedro and the others for the win.”
Salvador happy at last
“I am very happy because finally I can start in the front line of the grid tomorrow,” smiled the 16-year-old. “The bike is really giving me a good feeling here and I am really looking forward to enjoy tomorrow’s race. Dani and Pedro are fast but I think I can do even better tomorrow.”
He took a big tumble in the CEV round but said it was not bothering him. “No I’m fine, better every day. For me the race can be wet or dry, I don’t mind, the Free Practice sessions were wet and I still felt good on the bike.”
Aji at his best
“Of course I am very happy with that, my best Qualifying ever in Rookies Cup. I had a positive weekend here in the Junior World Championship and I try to keep the feeling I had. I feel very strong in the dry and I think I can fight for the podium tomorrow.”
“We have improved the bike setting and now it is perfect, I’m very happy.”
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 16:55 CET on Saturday and Race 2 is on Sunday at 15:30, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
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