The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will start from the third row of the grid at the San Marino Grand Prix, the seventh round of the Moto2 World Championship.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider, Tetsuta Nagashima, put in a strong performance in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix on Saturday, making it onto the third row for tomorrow’s race. The Japanese rider made a significant improvement on his Friday results, going through directly to Q2. 

In the last Free Practice of the weekend, Tetsuta Nagashima clocked the fifth best time, just 2 tenths behind the rider in the top spot. The Japanese was 0.8 seconds quicker than yesterday, putting in a 1:36.774 lap of Misano. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 talent completed a total of 20 laps, helping him to confirm some of his findings from Day 1.

Thanks to his morning time, Tetsuta Nagashima made it directly into Q2. After battling with the fastest competitors in the session, the Japanese placed ninth thanks to a 1:37.018 lap. However, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider will gain a position on the grid for the San Marino Grand Prix due to a penalty given to a rival, and will thus start from eighth place.

The 25-lap seventh race of the 2020 Moto2 World Championship season will start at 12:20 pm, local time, on Sunday.

Results – QP
1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:36.170
2. Remy Gardner (Kalex) 1:36.424 +0.254
3. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:36.496 +0.326
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:36.541 +0.371
5. Enea Bastianini (Kalex) 1:36.614 +0.444
9. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.018 +0.848

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“It was a fairly positive qualifying day. A third row for tomorrow’s race is fairly good, however we still have to improve our pace a little if we want to be up at the front. The team are working very hard, so I’m sure that we will be able to take a step forward and solve the small issues that we have in the warm-up. Our objective for the contest is to finish, and to do so at the head of the field.”