Remy Gardner claims second on the grid at Portimao

17/04/2021

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider is just 23 thousandths of a second off pole position for the Portuguese GP, with Raul Fernandez on the fourth row.

 

After a positive opening day on Friday, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders carried over their good feeling to Saturday in qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix. Both Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez would make their way directly into Q2, with the Australian taking a front row spot on the grid, in second position, and the Spaniard occupying 10th place.

Amidst optimal weather conditions, the pair participated in FP3, in which they once again showed their strong form. Gardner finished second, becoming the first rider to break the 1:43 barrier with a personal best of 1:42.643, 1 tenth off the top spot. The Australian put in a further 16 laps, whilst Fernandez ran 15 laps at a good pace. The Spaniard ended in sixth place with a 1:43.040.

Both went straight into Q2, in which Gardner placed second after stopping the clock at 1:42.924, 23 thousandths off the pole position. With this result, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider thus secured a place on the first row of the Portuguese GP grid. Fernandez was 10th – having set a 1:43.389 time -, after Race Direction cancelled his last lap due to a yellow flag.

The 23-lap Moto2 Portuguese Grand Prix will be held at 2:30 PM local time on Sunday, following the MotoGP contest.

Results (Qualifying session)

1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:42.901
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.924 +0.023
3. Xavi Vierge (Kalex) 1:43.075 +0.174
4. Ai Ogura (Kalex) 1:43.121 +0.220
5. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:43.170 +0.269
10. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.389 +0.488

87 REMY GARDNER

“We achieved a good result and we saw that we have the pace. Qualifying was quite different from the morning’s Free Practice session. We changed some aspects of the bike that didn’t end up working as expected. However, I am happy with this second place on the grid for tomorrow. The important thing is the race, so we will do our best to get a great position. I’m satisfied and I enjoyed riding at this track so far.”

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“I’m happy, although we finished the day with a bittersweet feeling about things. The team did a great job with the bike. However, we had laps scrubbed that prevented us from lowering our times. Even so, tenth position on the grid is an acceptable result, as we have the pace to try to fight with the leading riders tomorrow. We will have to push at the beginning of the race in order to be in with a chance at the end.”

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