November 2018 - Page 3 of 3

3 November, 20183 November, 2018

Reale Avintia Academy 77 Moto3 – GP of Malaysia – Sepang

Reale Avintia Academy 77 rider Vicente Pérez came very close to conquering a second row start at the Grand Prix of Malaysia. Only a tiny little mishap on the very last corner of the Sepang circuit stopped him from moving up to within the six fastest riders in the qualifying session. In the third section of the track, Pérez was just two tenths of a second behind pole position, but in the last corner he had to change his line to avoid hitting Arbolino and he lost more than a second.

He now has to start from 21^st position on the grid, but he has the speed and the determination to fight back and to recover positions. He wants to leave the memories of the poor results in Japan and Australia behind and finish the overseas triple on a high note, with more points in his account.

The Spanish rider will take advantage of the warm-up session on Sunday morning to refine the set-up of his bike. Other than that, he is well prepared for the 17-lap-race which will start at 12.00 h local time.

“It was a pity because I was just about to move up to the Top five when another rider almost crashed in front of me. I touched him and therefore I wasn’t able to complete what would have been a really fast lap. I’m sorry for the team, because they have done an incredible job all weekend long and the strategy for qualifying today was perfect. Yesterday I was a little bit lost, but step by step, we got on the right track to be fast in dry conditions. I hope it won’t rain tomorrow because my bike is set-up perfectly for dry conditions. It’s a matter of gritting my teeth on the first few laps and to recover as many positions as possible.”

2 November, 2018

MotoGP GP of Malaysia – Sepang

Reale Avintia Racing riders Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres finished the first day of practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix in 21^st and 22^nd position.

The heat, the humidity and repeated thunderstorms were main players on this Friday, but the MotoGP riders were lucky enough for both free practice sessions to take place on a dry tarmac.

Xavier Simeon had a lot of problems to find traction on the corner exits. He and his team worked hard to improve the grip levels of his rear Michelin tyre. At the end of the day, he made a step forward and finished just ahead of his teammate in the classification.

For Jordi Torres, the first day on the Malaysian track was very positive, as he gained a lot of confidence in the front end of his Ducati. He finished just behind Simeon, with a gap of only 40 thousandths of a second separating the Reale Avintia duo. It looks as if, quite like at the race in Japan, the teammates will race each other again on Sunday.

On Saturday, both expect to make another step and to qualify more towards the front of the starting grid.

“It was quite a difficult day because I didn’t have enough rear grip. We worked all day long to find a solution and to solve this particular problem. In the end, we made a small step in the right direction, but we have to improve further in order to make the best possible use of our bike’s potential. We need to find a set-up that makes us faster, but more than anything more consistent.”

“Things went well today, much better than I expected on such a long and wide circuit as Sepang. It is difficult to find the most efficient line here, but in the end we clocked a decent lap time. Maybe it could have even better if I had managed to string a faultless lap together, but I am happy regardless because we worked well and we passed the exam of the first day. I gained a lot of confidence and I made a big step forward on the corner entries. Tomorrow we will work on improving the corner exits.”

2 November, 2018

Reale Avintia Academy 77 Moto3 – GP of Malaysia – Sepang

Reale Avintia Academy 77 rider Vicente Pérez finished 21^st on his first ever day of practice at the Sepang International Circuit, venue of the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend.

The first session of day took place in the wet, where Pérez showed once again that he feels like a fish in water in these conditions. He finished FP1 in 13^th position, only a few tenths of a second behind the Top 10.

In the afternoon, on a tarmac that had dried completely in the meantime, Vicente learned his way around the circuit a bit better, as it is challenging to find the ideal line due to the enormous width of the track. Just as he wanted to push for a fast lap though, it started to rain again.

On Saturday, Vicente will have another free practice session to work on the set-up of his KTM RC250R. At 5:35h Middle European time, qualifying will take place, where he expects to make another leap forward in terms of set-up and speed, in order to achieve the best possible grid position for the race on Sunday.

“My first experience here at Sepang was quite good and even though I am here for the first time and it was wet, we were quite fast in the morning session. In the afternoon, I started to get a feeling for this track in dry conditions, but when we mounted the tyre I feel the best with, it started to rain again. But nevertheless, I am calm, because my team has done a great job with the bike, as always, and I am confident that we can get closer to the leading group of riders when it counts in qualifying tomorrow.”