The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider finishes among the fastest competitors on Friday, whilst Tetsuta Nagashima has a busy day.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 talent Jorge Martin is a man in form, and he showed as much on Friday as one of the most competitive riders in FP1 and FP2. The Spaniard set the third fastest time of the opening day of the Grand Prix of Styria, just 60 thousandths of a second behind off the pacesetter and provisionally making it into tomorrow’s Q2 session. Tetsuta Nagashima was one of the few competitors to improve in the afternoon, finishing 20th overall.

In the morning, Jorge Martin was already on the pace, leading Free Practice 1. The Spaniard was denied the top spot by just 60 thousandths of a second, placing third with his 1:28.793 personal best from 18 laps. Tetsuta Nagashima kept taking small steps forward until he clocked a time of 1:29.627 on his last of 17 attempts. The Japanese rider had a tricky start to the Grand Prix weekend, finally concluding the session in 21st place.

Hours later, Jorge Martin was once again amongst the front-runners at the start of the practice. The Spaniard put in 16 laps in this session and the best of these was a 1:29.538, earning him eighth. His teammate, Tetsuta Nagashima, took a merit-worthy step forward from the morning to the afternoon, and in FP2 was in 10th position with a 1:29.564. He was one of the busiest riders, undertaking 21 laps of the Austrian track.

Tomorrow the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo will have their final Free Practice, before Q1 and Q2 at 3:10 pm and 3:35 pm, respectively.

Results – FP1 & FP2
1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:28.733
2. Remy Gardner (Kalex) 1:28.749 +0.016
3. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:28.793 +0.060
4. Nicolo Bulega (Kalex) 1:28.814 +0.081
5. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:28.850 +0.117
20. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:29.564 +0.831

88 JORGE MARTIN

“Today was a very productive day. We focused on testing out different things that will work not only for this track, but also for others, in a way that allows us to bring things forward. It was a positive start to the Grand Prix, as I felt comfortable even when riding with used tyres. We are ready for tomorrow and looking forward to fighting for a good position on the grid.”

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“I feel better than last week. We took quite a few positives from today. Little by little I am feeling more comfortable on the bike, although there is still a lot of work to do. We still have FP3 and qualifying tomorrow to gain that little bit of confidence that we are lacking. If we do that, I am sure that we will be able to be higher up the order.”