The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider sets the second fastest time on the combined FP1 and FP2 timesheets, with Tetsuta Nagashima 9th.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 enjoyed a strong opening day of the Austrian Grand Prix, despite mixed conditions at the Red Bull Ring. Jorge Martin set the second best time of the day, going just 10 tenths slower than the fastest rider on Friday. Tetsuta Nagashima was ninth on the combined timesheets, as both provisionally earned places in Q2.

Jorge Martin was an early pacesetter in FP1. The Spaniard put in a total of 21 laps, finishing the morning session fourth with a time of 1:29.262 – only 1 tenth slower than the fastest man. Teammate, Tetsuta Nagashima, made notable progress throughout the run, and thanks to a strong last attempt the Japanese placed eighth with a 1:29.428 – less than 3 tenths off the top. He completed 21 laps in FP1.

In the afternoon, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team had to overcome intermittent rain at the start of the session. When the track dried out late on, Jorge Martin put together a series of pacy laps that took him to second, clocking a personal best of 1:28.995. The Spaniard was 10 thousandths of a second off top spot, and one of the few riders able to go round in under 2:29. Tetsuta Nagashima finished 12th with a time of 1:29.735. The Japanese rider contributed 19 laps in FP2, and Martin 17.

Tomorrow morning the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo will have one last Free Practice in which to work on setting up their bikes. Q1 is scheduled for 3:10 pm and Q2 at 3:35 pm.

Results – FP1 & FP2
1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:28.985
2. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:28.995 +0.010
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:29.149 +0.164
4. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 1:29.177 +0.192
5. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 1:29.207 +0.222
9. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:29.428 +0.443

88 JORGE MARTIN

“I’m happy with today. Once again, I’m enjoying myself on the bike. We have to improve a couple of details, especially in terms of the front end, for tomorrow, but I think I’m strong for the fight for pole. We will try to carry these good feelings over to Sunday and challenge for the victory.”

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“It was a positive day, as we tried some new things and we found the path that we have to follow if we want to take more steps forward. We still have to improve in terms of our pace, but we have to bear in mind that we ran used tyres for several laps and didn’t put on the new compounds for FP2. Overall, I’m happy and tomorrow we will do our best to fight for pole position.”