Cortese qualified second in Jerez

28/04/2012

Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Racing Team´s German rider Sandro Cortese will start to the second Moto3 GP of the season from the second place of the Jerez circuit on Sunday in Spain.
Cortese who took the pole position and finished third at the season opener three weeks ago was only 12 thousandth of seconds from the pole position. Cortese made his fastest lap for the time of 1.57, order 519 at the difficult circumstances.

Playing risky with
tyres paid off

– Extremely difficult qualifying. In the beginning the track was wet and when it started to dry after few laps we had to wait still long until we dared to change to slick tyres. It was a risk but it paid off because before that I was somewhere in 15-16th place. In the end I was so close to have the second pole position in a row, site pleased Cortese said.
Cortese will head to the Sunday´s race with a confident mind. He has made good laps at Jerez with all kind of weather.
– Everything suits me. I will be strong at the race on Sunday whether it will be dry or rainy weather, cure Cortese confirmed.
Team leader Aki Ajo was really happy of Cortese´s great improvement during the qualifying. This is already Ajo´s 11th year in GP-series but he rarely has seen such a rainy weather as now in Jerez.
– The circumstances were indeed unusual and risky. The last few minutes of the qualifying mattered a lot, Ajo referred to the tyres.

Sissis had top speed
with wet tyres

Cortese was the only one of the KTM factory team´s three riders who made the thrilling last laps with slick tyres.
Australian Arthur Sissis qualified eight and Briton Danny Kent was 15th. Sissis who rode with wet tyres even in the top group was 1,516 seconds from the pole and Kent 2,352 seconds.
– I had a good feeling with the wet tyres but I must admit that I was a bit careful with slick tyres. I made a little mistake when I didn´t come to change tyres on time. In the end of the qualifying I just lost the traction of the wet tyres, said Sissis who has started strongly his first GP-season.
Kent wasn´t able to use his full potential at the difficult circumstances.
– It rained during the morning´s free practice and it went just fine for me but the qualifying was difficult, Kent admits.
The pole position was taken in front of his home crowd by Spanish Alex Rins who is getting ready for only his second GP. Rins´s teammate Portuguese Miguel Oliveira, who was 0,456 seconds behind Rins will complement the Estrella Galicia´s success by joining to the first row.

GRAN PREMIO bwin DE ESPAÑA
Moto3 Qualifying Practice Classification 2012
1. Alex Rins Spain, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Suter Honda 1.57,507
2. Sandro Cortese Germany, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM + 0,012
3. Miguel Oliveira Portugal, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Suter Honda + 0,456
4. Alexis Masbou France, Caretta Technology, Honda + 0,794
5. Jakub Kornfeil Czech, Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta, FTR Honda + 0,931
6. Jack Miller Australia, Caretta Technology, Honda + 1,286
7. Isaac Vinales Spain, Ongetta-Centro Seta, FTR Honda + 1,404
8. Arthur Sissis Australia, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM + 1,516
9. Maverick Vinales Spain, Blusens Avintia, FTR Honda + 1,594
10. Romano Fenati Italy, Team Italia FMI, FTR Honda + 1,648
11. Efren Vazquez Spain, JHK T-Shirt Laglisse, FTR Honda + 1,691
12. Louis Rossi France, Racing Team Germany, FTR Honda + 1,943
13. Alex Marquez Spain, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Suter Honda + 1,993
14. Adrian Martin Spain, JHK T-Shirt Laglisse, FTR Honda + 2,222
15. Danny Kent Great Britain, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM + 2,352
27. Niklas Ajo Finland, TT Motion Events Racing, KTM + 4,195
28. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Malaysia, AirAsia-Sic-Ajo, KTM + 4,245

Full results:
http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2012/SPA/Moto3/QP

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