Red Bull KTM Ajo face Moto3’s only South American challenge

30/03/2016

Brad Binder and Bo Bendsneyder head to Argentina after good results in the opening round of the season.

Binder and Bendsneyder, <a href=

link Moto3, Qatar MotoGP, 2016″ width=”300″ height=”197″ /> Binder and Bendsneyder, Moto3, Qatar MotoGP, 2016

The Moto3 World Championship makes a journey of almost 14,000km from Qatar to Argentina, where this weekend the second round of the 2016 season takes place. Red Bull KTM Ajo come into the event after making a great start to the year, with Brad Binder fighting for victory at the opening Grand Prix. Second in Qatar, the South African will be out to claim a second consecutive podium. Teammate Bo Bendsneyder will be riding at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit for the very first time.

Only 7 thousandths of a second separated Brad Binder from a first Grand Prix win in Qatar, in a race that he had dominated right up until the final lap. Satisfied with his performance in the first round of the season, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider is hoping to go one better on Sunday and take victory in Argentina. He has twice raced at the scene of this weekend’s event, placing fifth last year.

Bo Bendsneyder will be facing a completely new track for him, having only seen the Termas de Rio Hondo track on TV and in video games. Undeterred by this, the 2015 Red Bull Rookies Cup champion intends to adapt quickly in Free Practice and keep adding points to his tally in the overall standings. He placed fourteenth at the season curtain-raiser in Qatar.

Free Practice for the Argentinian GP begins on Friday, with qualifying on Saturday and the race itself at 1pm local time on Sunday. The Red Bull KTM Ajo team have taken pole position in both of the two years that races have been run at the track, and also earned a podium in 2014 through Jack Miller.

Circuit information – Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo
Length: 4.806 m / 2.986 miles
Width: 16 metres
Left corners: 5
Right corners: 9
Longest straight: 1.076 m / 0.669 miles
Constructed: 2008
Modified: 2012

41 BRAD BINDER

“The Argentinian Grand Prix is always a cool weekend. I think we come here prepared and strong after the good weekend we had in Qatar. We must continue to work in the same way. If we are able to take a step forward, then that will be amazing. My previous experiences of visits to this circuit have not been bad -last year we were fifth- but this year we want more. I am very happy with how everything is going, so we shall see what awaits us this weekend.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER

“The feeling of coming to Argentina for the first time is very nice. I don’t think I have ever been to a place like this. For the first time we have a completely new track to face, where we only have three Free Practice sessions to learn the circuit. In Qatar we had conducted a test the week before. It will be very important to put in as many laps as possible in the first session to learn the circuit, and then we will have time to play around with the setup of the bike. On Saturday it will be important to get a good position on the grid, so that we can fight to score points like we did in the first race.”

Partners



MotoE