The Australian Red Bull KTM Ajo rider set the third best time in the first qualifying session of the year. Karel Hanika will start from the seventh row.

The starting grid for the first race of the year was decided tonight at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Jack Miller achieved an excellent result, setting the third fastest time of the session with a 2:06.365 -the Australian’s best result of his career- and will start from the front row in tomorrow’s race. His teammate, Karel Hanika, will start his first World Championship tomorrow from the seventh row after setting the nineteenth fastest time of the day.

Jack Miller made a great start to the season, clocking the third fastest time on his antepenultimate lap with a 2:06.365 in the Moto3 class. This will allow Miller a first row start for the first time in his World Championship career. His earlier best qualifying position had been fourth, which he achieved no fewer than five times.

Meanwhile, the young Karel Hanika had poor luck in his first qualifying session at the World level. The Czech rider, who spent the majority of the 40 minute session among the top 15, was finally relegated to nineteenth position with a time of 2:08.109 after missing out on making a fast lap on new tires in his final outing of the session due to traffic and a small crash.

The first race of the 2014 season will kick off tomorrow at 19.00 -local time-. This will be the first World Championship season for Karel Hanika.

Results – Qualifying Practice
1. Alex Rins (Honda) 2:05.973
2. Alex Marquez (Honda) 2:06.125 +0.152
3. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:06.365 +0.392
4. Jakub Kornfeil (KTM) 2:06.515 +0.542
5. Isaac Viñales (KTM) 2:06.843 +0.870
19. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.109 +2.136

Jack Miller >> Audio
“The qualifying session went really well, but I think it could have been better, because during my final laps I was faced with a lot of traffic. With new tires the bike was fine and I could do consistent lap times without a slipstream. I’ve not been able to lower my lap more, but I was always riding alone and this will help us in the race. Anyway today was a great day for us, I’m happy with how the team is working. This was my first qualifying session with them and everything worked fine, no stress, and everyone did their job. Definitely a good day.”

Karel Hanika >> Audio
“The position today is not what we hoped for. The qualifying session didn’t start out well, we had some problems because the conditions were completely different than yesterday, but we tried to adapt the bike. During the last session out, I couldn’t find the right time to push for a fast time and on the last lap, in turn nine, I lost the front. I think tomorrow will be better.”

*Audio solely for radio use