The British rider seizes second position giving Husqvarna the second consecutive first row. Niklas Ajo ranks twenty-sixth after completing only four laps.

This Saturday Danny Kent gave Husqvarna another second place qualifying position on the Moto3 grid following Niklas Ajo’s gift of the same at the last race, the Grand Prix of San Marino. Motorland Aragon was the scene of a good day for the British rider, who achieved his personal best qualifying of the year. Meanwhile, the Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo rider suffered a mechanical problem that prevented him from completing more than one flying lap.

Kent and Ajo finished in fifth and sixth positions respectively in the earlier combined free practice session, with Kent the only rider of the two managing to lower his times from the day before to a 1:58.852 to put him in fifth. Ajo followed close behind with a final lap of 1:59.162.

The Briton then crushed his previous best time during the qualifying session with a lap of 1:58.434, closing the round just 116 milliseconds from pole position. Meanwhile, the Finnish rider faced a mechanical problem that forced him to return to the box after his first attempt at a fast lap. After 30 minutes of intense work, with up to 12 hands at work in Husqvarna, the Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo rider returned to the tarmac to complete another fast lap, allowing him to climb to the twenty-sixth position with a time of 2:00.260.

The third championship round held in Spain begins tomorrow at 11.00am at the Motorland Aragon circuit, where the Husqvarna riders will attempt to fight amongst the lead and finish as high as possible.

Results – QP
1. Alex Rins (Honda) 1:58.318
2. Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) 1:58.434 +0.116
3. Juanfran Guevara (Kalex KTM) 1:58.470 +0.152
4. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:58.476 +0.158
5. Alex Marquez (Honda) 1:58.510 +0.192
26. Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) 2:00.260 +1.942

Danny Kent >> Audio (solely for radio use)

“We have been very quick all weekend, and I’m feeling very comfortable with the bike. Coming into the qualifying session I had confidence in being able to secure a front row start, and so it proved to be possible. We face tomorrow’s race in good shape and happy, because we are able to do more than just one fast lap. That is very important for the race. It will be a tight race and I think the group will be a large one -especially with this long straight. I’m very happy with how everything went today.”

Niklas Ajo >> Audio (solely for radio use)

“First of all, I have to thank my team for the work that they have done. All the work that they managed to do in half an hour was absolutely amazing. I thank that starting from 26th position is much better than starting from the last row. It’s a shame, because during the whole weekend we worked very well and we have been up at the front in practice. But that’s racing. You never know when these things are going to happen. We didn’t have much luck, but at least we set one fast lap which has helped us a lot. Still, I made a mistake on the last lap but I was able to maintain 26th position.

Tomorrow we will try to be as fast as possible in the race, where I think there will be a large group once again. The very long straight makes that almost certain. We will give our all and see what happens.”