Front row for Brad Binder at Red Bull KTM Ajo’s home GP

10/08/2019

The South African rider will start second on the grid at the Red Bull Ring, with his teammate Jorge Martin on the fourth row.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team’s good form continued at their home Grand Prix on Saturday. Thanks to their effort in the free practices, both riders made it directly to Q2. Brad Binder took second place on the grid in qualifying and will therefore start from the first row at the Red Bull Ring tomorrow, in the eleventh race of the 2019 World Championship. Jorge Martin, meanwhile, will get away from the fourth row.

In FP3, Brad Binder confirmed his good feeling from yesterday, producing very similar times to those he recorded on Friday. The South African only made one single pit stop, completing a total of 20 laps of the Austrian track. On his second run the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider registered a 1:29.147 and he finished the session in 13th. On the other side of the box, Jorge Martin experienced some difficulties, however the Spaniard managed to overcome his problems in the last part of the practice, notching his personal best of the weekend – 1:29.054 – to end 7th. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders thus went straight into Q2, after concluding 6th and 8th on the combined timesheet from the three free practice sessions.

Brad Binder then went on to show he is one of the fastest riders this weekend, finishing less than one tenth off pole. The South African, who opted for a one-stop strategy to change tyres, got second position in qualifying with a personal best of 1:28.791, matching his best qualifying result of this season so far. For his part, Jorge Martin also displayed great speed, lapping in 1:29.061, which was just three tenths off the fastest time. The Spanish rider will take off from 12th on the starting grid.

The 25-lap Moto2 race at the Austrian GP will start tomorrow at 12:20 pm local time.

 

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Tetsuta Nagashima (Kalex) 1:28.718
2. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:28.791 +0.073
3. Somkiat Chantra (Kalex) 1:28.856 +0.138
4. Enea Bastianini (Kalex) 1:28.903 +0.185
5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 1:28.924 +0.206
12. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:29.061 +0.343

 

41 BRAD BINDER

“Today was a superb day for us. I’m very happy to be on the first row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. I was really close to pole, but I’m satisfied. Since FP1, I’ve felt much better with the bike and there are still some things that we will try to tweak in the warmup. This weekend we have focused on doing long runs, trying to make just one single stop in each practice, so I think we can find a good race pace. It is a important Grand Prix for KTM and Red Bull, so if I can be fighting for the podium and for the victory, it would clearly be very positive. I’m really looking forward to the contest starting.”

88 JORGE MARTIN

“This morning we took a step forward compared to yesterday. The sensations weren’t perfect, however I was closer to the top, as three tenths is very little difference. We need to continue working, to see if we can fine tune some details for tomorrow, especially on corner entry, which is where I’m struggling most. The goal is to be in the top 10 and to do that we’ll have to run at a good pace over the 25 laps of the race.”

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