Red Bull KTM Ajo rider takes first World Championship pole position.  Arthur Sissis, tenth, and Zulfahmi Khairuddin, eleventh, will start from the fourth row tomorrow.

Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix saw the first pole position of the 2013 season go to Red Bull KTM Ajo, Luis Salom. The Spaniard thus takes his first top spot on a World Championship grid.  Teammates Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin also took steps forward and achieved  tenth and eleventh place, respectively.

The Losail International Circuit was the scene of a great night for Luis Salom. Never outside the top five in the session, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider made a perfect final lap to stop the clock at 2’07.229 and gain his first Moto3 World Championship pole position.

His teammates also  significantly improved their best times from free practice. Both will start tomorrow from the fourth row of the grid as a result. Arthur Sissis, with a time of 2’08.567, takes off from tenth,  whilst Zulfahmi Khairuddin will do the same from eleventh after registering a 2’08.575 lap just 8 thousandths off the Australian.

Tomorrow at 19:00 local time, the red light of the Losail International Circuit will go out to start the first race of the 2013 Moto3 World Championship.

Results (Qualifying practice)
1. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:07.229
2. Maverick Viñales (KTM) 2:07.337 +0.108
3. Alex Rins (KTM) 2:07.596 +0.367
4. Jonas Folger (KTM) 2:07.894 +0.665
5. Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra) 2:08.409 +1.180
10. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.567 +1.338
11. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.575 +1.346

Luis Salom >> Audio
“The qualifying session was very good for us. The entire team are doing a great job and today we continued on the same line. I’m very happy. I have to thank Red Bull, Air Asia, KTM and Aki Ajo for giving me this opportunity. The most important thing tomorrow is to get a good pace and see how we go.”

Arthur Sissis >> Audio
“It was a rather positive session. I wasn’t expecting this result after Thursday’s free practice and Friday’s sessions, because I didn’t go so well in those. We took a step forward with our setting and I also improved my riding. In the end, it wasn’t bad at all. I rode by myself and was fast, so I think that I can go even better as part of a group.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin >> Audio (English) // English (Malaysian)
“The qualifying session went really well. We improved our best lap time and the feeling with the KTM was very good. I’m confident of further improvement in the warmup too. Eleventh place on the grid is not bad at all and, if I make a good start, I’m sure I can latch onto the front group.”

* Audio solely for radio use