The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo completed the first two Free Practice sessions and provisionally qualified for Q2.

The Jerez-Circuit Angel Nieto hosted the opening day of the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday. At the same time, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders, Tetsuta Nagashima and Jorge Martin, undertook two positive free practices, the FP1 and the FP2, at the hot Andalusian track. The pair placed 4th and 7th, respectively, on the combined timesheets, provisionally making the cut for Q2.

From early on in the morning session, Nagashima established himself as one of the fastest riders, including leading the way at one point in FP1. The Japanese finished the practice fourth, with a 1:41.736 personal best – almost a second faster than his best lap from the test on Wednesday. Tetsuta completed a total of 17 laps, as did teammate Jorge Martin. The Spaniard made steady progress throughout the session to clock his fastest time on his last attempt: a 1:41.785 for seventh place.

In the afternoon, Nagashima managed to overcome a tricky start to finish in third place, thanks to a time of 1:42.435. The Japanese put in 17 laps on the Andalusian track in FP2, whilst Martin contributed 15. On his 13th attempt, the Spaniard set a 1:42.817 for 12th on the timesheets. No Moto2 rider went quicker in the afternoon than in the morning because of the heat.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team have one last Free Practice session tomorrow morning. The starting grid for the Spanish GP will be decided in Q1 and Q2, which will be held at 3:10 pm and 3:35 pm, respectively.

Results – FP1 & FP2
1. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:41:410
2. Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) 1:41.458 +0.048
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:41.725 +0.315
4. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.736 +0.326
5. Marcel Schrotter (Kalex) 1:41.752 +0.342
7. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.785 +0.375

 

88 JORGE MARTIN

“It was a bit of a strange day. However, I can take away the feeling that I had in the morning, which was good. In the afternoon it was very hot and in those conditions, it was a little harder for me to feel comfortable on the bike. The important thing is that we are clear about the direction we have to take with our work, we know what we want, and that is what is necessary to face qualifying and the race.”

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“I am happy with the results we took today. We still have work to do in certain aspects but, in general, we are ok. In FP2 it was very hot and that made it difficult to improve our lap times.
I hope that tomorrow we can take another step forward. Our goal for Saturday is to qualify at least on the second row of the grid.”