BETA TOOLS SPEEDRS TEAM

CATALAN GP DAY1: LÓPEZ MAKES IT TO Q2, VIETTI FORCED TO GO THROUGH Q1

The first day of free practice under the Catalan sun ended with a twelfth and twentieth place for the Beta Tools SpeedRS Team riders. Tomorrow, López will go directly into Q2, while Vietti will have to first compete in the opening qualifying session.

Rider #21 started FP1 with the standard setup and then worked on several modifications throughout the session. Thanks to a lap of 1’42.684, he finished in P10. In the afternoon, during the second run, Alonso managed to stop the clock at 1’42.417, a time that earned him twelfth place, just +0.224 off the top. A very small margin that secured him direct access to Q2 tomorrow.

A good start to the day also for Vietti, who set a 1’42.729 to end FP1 in twelfth place. In the Practice session, however, rider #13 saw his chances of entering the top fourteen vanish due to a mistake and a yellow flag, which compromised his final two attempts. Vietti thus finished the day in twentieth place with a time of 1’42.866 and will have to go through Q1 tomorrow.

ALONSO LÓPEZ #21: 12th in 1’42.417
“It was a good first day of practice here in Barcelona. This morning we started well, and I immediately felt comfortable on the bike. Twelfth place allows us to go directly into Q2 tomorrow; it will be important to keep working to have a strong qualifying session”.

CELESTINO VIETTI #13: 20th in 1’42.866
“This morning we had a good session with a solid pace, and I immediately felt comfortable on the bike. In the afternoon, I was able to improve a few details and we completed a good long run, which will be useful for the race. I made a mistake on my fast lap, and then there were two yellow flags, so we are out of Q2. Everyone is very close, so we need to focus on the positives: not going directly into Q2 gives us 15 extra minutes to better understand the bike’s limits and then attempt to pass into Q2”.