Spanish rider claims second fastest time in qualifying for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas. Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin will start from the fourth row of the grid.
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At the Circuit of The Americas this afternoon, the Moto3 grid for the latest World Championship round was decided. Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Luis Salom was second quickest in qualifying, securing a second front row start in as many races. Teammates Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin will take off from tenth and twelfth, respectively.

Current Moto3 World Championship leader Luis Salom was the second fastest man in the afternoon shootout, with a time of 2’16.879. Patient and with a strong pace in the opening part of the session, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider set his best time on his antepenultimate lap. Salom was one of only two riders able to breach the 2’17 barrier.

Arthur Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin will again share the fourth line of attack. The Australian was tenth with a time of 2’18.951, whilst his Malaysian colleague was twelfth thanks to a 2’19.065 lap. Both concluded a roundly satisfying day with improvements lap-after-lap in practice and qualifying.

Race number two of the season gets underway tomorrow from 11am local time. After winning in the opening round at Qatar, Luis Salom is prepared to fight for another victory on US soil. He is the only rider on the Moto3 grid to have won a race in America before.

Results (Qualifying practice)
1. Alex Rins (KTM) 2:16.396
2. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:16.879 +0.483
3. Maverick Viñales (KTM) 2:17.100 +0.704
4. Jack Miller (FTR Honda) 2:18.303 +1.907
5. Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) 2:18.570 +2.174
10. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:18.951 +2.555
12. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:19.065 +2.669

Luis Salom >> Audio
“Both the team and I have done a good job. This afternoon we resolved some of the problems from the morning, as we had been too far off the top times. We turned that around and were able to improve our setup. We are working well and we are calm and hopeful about tomorrow’s race.”

Arthur Sissis >> Audio
“Today went better than yesterday. We improved some aspects of the bike and of my riding, thanks to the track surface being better. In qualifying I felt comfortable with the bike, but just when I was on my fast lap I ran off track after a collision with another rider. The time wasn’t what I expected, but I hope that the pace is a little better tomorrow.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin >> Audio (English) // Audio (Malaysian)
“Today’s qualifying was good, as we took three seconds off my time from yesterday. I feel comfortable on the bike, although there is always something that we can improve. With luck, tomorrow I hope to get a good start and take a spot at the front in the race.”

* Audio solely for radio use