Nagashima and Martin have positive season’s opening day at Losail

06/03/2020

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders finish the first Friday of Free Practice in 2020 fighting for top positions.

 

The wait finally came to an end for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team who began a new season this Friday at the Qatar Grand Prix. Jorge Martin and Tetsuta Nagashima contested two solid Free Practice sessions, with both improving their lap times from FP1 to FP2. The Spaniard and the Japanese riders also obtained provisional spots in Q2 by finishing the opening day 10th and 4th, respectively.

The Moto2 season got underway with a very tight FP1, in which Martin was second on the timesheets – just 17 thousandths of a second off the top spot – after stopping the clock at 1:59.185 on his final attempt. Meanwhile, Nagashima was 11th in the session with a 1:59.473, 3 tenths off the pacesetter. The Spaniard completed 14 laps and Tetsuta 16 in FP1, both improving with each stint.

In the evening the track temperatures decreased considerably, which worked in Nagashima’s favour as he remained in the Top 5 throughout FP2. Of his 16 laps, a 1:58.921 was his personal best and the fourth fastest on Friday. Martin continued to take steps forward, setting his quickest time of 1:59.148 for 10th in both the session and the combined timesheets.

Tomorrow in FP3, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders will try to make it straight into Q2, which will be held at 6:25 pm local time, preceded by Q1 at 6 pm.

 

Combined practice times (FP1 – FP2)
1. Joe Roberts (Kalex) 1:58:421
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:58.669 +0.248
3. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:58.759 +0.338
4. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:58.921 +0.500
5. Xavi Vierge (Kalex) 1:59.059 +0.638
10. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.148 +0.727

 

88 JORGE MARTIN

“It was a bit of a strange day for us. Usually here in the morning I struggle a little more and, instead, today we felt comfortable riding in high temperatures – which is a positive thing. However, in the afternoon we lacked a little more speed. We are consistent and that is good, but we need to take a step forward if we want to challenge for the win on Sunday. If we find more rear grip tomorrow, we can fight for the top spots on the grid, because it’s very important to start high up at this circuit.”

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“I’m very happy with how things went today. We have a good pace and we are consistent. However, we must continue working to lower our times a little more. I’m very satisfied with the work that the team are doing. I feel much better compared to the test, so I hope to fight for a good grid position tomorrow.”

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