Honda HRC PETRONAS debutant Jeffrey Herlings had a great start to today’s proceedings, placing first in both the free and timed practice on this brand-new Bariloche circuit. It was great to see the #84 able to adapt to the new conditions immediately and hopes were high he would be able to replicate that in the qualification race.

"The day went really well," Herlings said. "Right up until the start of the qualification race. I was fastest in free practice and fastest in timed practice, but then I didn’t get a good start in the qualification race and it went downhill. I was battling hard on those opening laps but made a mistake on the start straight and went down. I worked my way back up through to field to 12th but not really the first race I wanted and now I’ll have a tough gate-pick for the motos tomorrow."

Unfortunately his got boxed out off the start and had to battle hard to get himself inside the top 10 early on. After all that work, he was just about to really attack the riders in front, but a small mistake as they entered the start straight saw him drop right down the field.

Charging through from way outside the top 20, he made his way all the way up to 12th as time expired, which was an impressive result on a track that wasn’t easy to make moves on. While the gate-pick isn’t what he wanted, the speed he showed all day gives him confidence he can challenge up front if he can negotiate the first turn with the leaders.

Bavo Swijgers image