The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider will start from third place on the grid at MotorLand, with his teammate Jorge Martin in 14th.

After an intense opening day at the Aragon Grand Prix, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team made the most of their potential in qualifying today at MotorLand. In FP3, Brad Binder and Jorge Martin made it straight through to Q2, where the South African rider achieved a fantastic third position, meaning that tomorrow he will start from the front of the grid. For his part, the Spaniard will begin Sunday’s race from the fifth row.

In the early part of FP3, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo demonstrated their capacity to make it directly into Q2. Jorge Martin was in the Top 5 throughout the session, initially leading the way at the head of the timesheets. After completing a total of 16 laps, the Spaniard finished fourth with a 1:52.995, beating his best Friday effort by more than half a second. On the other side of the box, Brad Binder also looked strong, lapping amongst the leading riders. Ultimately, the South African was ninth – 1:53.100.

Courtesy of that performance the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 pair went straight into Q2, where they both managed to take further steps forward. Brad Binder stepped it up in the final part of the session, notching his personal best of the weekend – 1:52.426 – to put him third, placing him on the front row for tomorrow’s race. Jorge Martin also set his fastest time of the Aragon GP so far during Q2, with a 1:52.897 on the third lap of seven undertaken, to give him 14th place on the grid.

The Moto2 race at the MotorLand Aragon circuit will start tomorrow at 2:30 pm local time.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 1:52.225
2. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 1:52.350 +0.125
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:52.426 +0.201
4. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:52.435 +0.210
5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 1:52.566 +0.341
14. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:52.897 +0.672

41 BRAD BINDER

“Starting from the front row is the most important thing for tomorrow. I feel great and the pace is good this weekend. It was hard for us to set a quick lap, but little by little we got closer. I am satisfied with how things went in qualifying and I’m looking forward to having a strong contest tomorrow. We still have some work to do in the warm-up, but in general I’m positive. I would like to find something that makes me feel a little more comfortable on the bike, but I know that if I can get away in the front group at the beginning, my strong point is usually the final part of the race. I will give my maximum and see what we can get.”

88 JORGE MARTIN

“I wasn’t feeling comfortable in qualifying. We made some changes on the front end of the bike from the morning session which didn’t work out as we had hoped, as it didn’t allow me to make the most of the new tyre. In the end, when I went back out on the track, I had no tyre left and we weren’t able to set a faster time. For tomorrow we have the pace, we just need to improve our confidence a little and we can be strong in the final part of the race.”