The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider qualifies sixth, whilst teammate Kaito Toba has a tough day and places 25th.

The starting grid for the San Marino Grand Prix was decided on Saturday, with Raul Fernandez earning a spot amongst the front-runners. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider, who made his way directly into Q2, will start from the second row, in sixth position. His teammate, Kaito Toba, finished 11th in Q1 and will take off from ninth row, 25th.

Raul Fernandez had the same good feeling as on Friday, heading the timesheets during the first half of the morning practice. The Spaniard finished FP3 in fourth position after setting his personal best:  1:42.472, just 57 thousandths off the top spot. It was enough to take him straight through to Q2. He completed 14 laps in FP3, whilst his teammate, Kaito Toba, put in 15. On his last attempt, the Japanese stopped the clock at 1:43.853 for 23rd.

Fernandez’ fastest lap in Q2 was cancelled due to a yellow flag, so the Spaniard had to reset and go for another fast time in the final part of the afternoon run. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider was sixth – with a 1:42.656 – and secured a place on the second row. Kaito Toba would have to enter Q1, in which he finished 11th with a 1:43.905. His result puts him on the ninth row for the San Marino GP, in 25th position.

The 23-lap San Marino Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow at 11 am local time.

Results – QP
1. Ai Ogura (Honda) 1:42.403
2. Gabriel Rodrigo (Honda) 1:42.419 +0.016
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:42.434 +0.031
4. Andrea Migno (KTM) 1:42.445 +0.042
5. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 1:42.604 +0.201
6. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.656 +0.253
25. Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.905 (Q1 time)

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“I am happy with how today went. We were hoping for a bit more, but with how close this class is, getting a second row start is a good result. We cleared up all the doubts we had about yesterday and now we are ready for the race. Tomorrow we will do our best, we will fight hard and we will try to get a positive result.”

27 KAITO TOBA

“We improved in some aspects today, although it was once again a tough day for us. Mentally we have also taken a step forward compared to yesterday, which is positive. It was not our best qualifying session, but I feel good ahead of tomorrow’s race. My goal is to have fun in the race and try to get into the points.”