Fahmi Leads The Way For KTM On Day One In Austin

Austin, Texas – Friday 10th April

Circuit: Circuit of The Americas
Circuit Length: 5.5 km

Bike #63 – Zulfahmi Khairuddin
FP1: P5; 2’34.444 (WET) – 13 laps
FP2: P8; 2’30.882 (WET) –13 laps

Bike #84 – Jakub Kornfeil
FP1: P6; 2’34.682 (WET) – 13 laps
FP2: P14; 2’31.844 (WET) – 11 laps

Day one of The Grand Prix Of The Americas saw a strong start for the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team, with both riders showing good form on their KTM Moto3 machines.

Tackling the wet conditions with ease, Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil initially set the pace as the first of the day’s practice sessions began. Remaining within the top six throughout FP1, the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team riders concluded the session as the leading KTM’s in the field.

Despite tricky conditions, a confident Zulfahmi Khairuddin worked hard to better his time in the final practice of the day. Continuing to progress with the wet setting on his #63 bike, the 23 year old finished the session for a second consecutive time as the top Moto3 KTM.

#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin
“Today has been a really good day for us. We were strong from the beginning and I felt really comfortable with the bike. The feeling was much better and especially in the rain. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better as I look forward to also trying our dry set up, but if not I am confident that we can do well in the wet. This has been a very positive first day and this is how it should be right from the start of a Grand Prix weekend. I’m very happy with my bike, the set up that we have and the work that the team did today. I hope that we can continue like this tomorrow and qualify in a good position.”

#84 Jakub Kornfeil
“In first practice we had a good setting from the beginning. There was a lot of water, so we had to be a bit careful but at the start I was very strong and always first. It was when I stopped in the garage that the other riders began to improve their lap times and then when I went back out the rain started to fall even heavier and then nobody could improve anymore. I was still very fast and within the top three for the majority of the session, so this was very good. In the afternoon the practice was a little harder for me because we were playing with the tyres and the gear box, trying to further improve the setting. On the last lap I was set to put in my fastest time of the day but unfortunately in the last sector I closed the throttle because I thought I had time to let another rider go past, so that I could then try to catch him. My bike was showing me one minute to go but when I got to the finish line the chequered flag was already out. I thought I had one more lap to really push but unfortunately I didn’t, so this was a little bit of a mistake. I think after today though we can be in the top ten and if it stays wet we will be very fast.”

-SIC Racing Team facebook.

PelanconganKini supported DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team.