Pedro Acosta and Jaume Masia get through to Q2 and qualify on the fifth and sixth row of the grid, respectively, at the German Grand Prix.

The Sachsenring held qualifying for the German Grand Prix on Saturday, deciding the grid for the eighth round of the 2021 Moto3 World Championship season. Both Red Bull KTM Ajo riders would make their way through to Q2 on a hot day, as Pedro Acosta qualified in 13th position and teammate Jaume Masia in 17th – after participating in Q1.

For FP3, the sun was shining at Sachsenring track, raising the ambient temperature to 27ºC. Despite the heat, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo continued to make strides forward in a session in which both improved on their personal best from Friday. Acosta felt very comfortable onboard his KTM and would lead the practice at one stage, eventually placing 13th. His 1:26.903 time was just 5 tenths off the top spot. The rookie put in 18 laps of the German track. Masia was 15th after stopping the clock at 1:27.009, on his 12th attempt out of a total of 17.

Acosta went straight into Q2, thanks to his good work in Free Practice. The rookie was 13th with a fast lap of 1:27.906, which placed him on the fifth row of the grid for Sunday’s race. Masia took part in Q1, in which he finished third – 1:27.584 -, seeing him through to Qualifying 2. In that session, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider qualified in 17th place – 1:28.393.

The 27-lap Moto3 German Grand Prix takes place at 11 AM local time on Sunday.

Results (Qualifying session)

1. Filip Salac (Honda) 1:26.913
2. Dennis Foggia (Honda) 1:27.096 +0.183
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:27.127 +0.214
4. John McPhee (Honda) 1:27.228 +0.315
5. Kaito Toba (KTM) 1:27.350 +0.437
13. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:27.906 +0.993
17. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:28.393 +1.480

5 JAUME MASIA

“I’m happy with how I felt today, much more so than yesterday. In qualifying we were on course to go quicker than the polesitter, but due to an incident on the last lap we weren’t able to make it count, which was a pity. We will push our hardest tomorrow to try to make up places in the race, and to round off the weekend with a good result.”

37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“It was a positive day. In FP3 we set a very good pace when riding alone. In qualifying there was a lot of traffic, so we just had to do everything that we could. In the end, the important thing is that we are strong ahead of tomorrow. We will try to move up the order quickly, as this is a track with a lot of corners and the group can break up easily. We’re starting from a better spot than at other races, so we will try to end the weekend with a great result. As always, the aim will be to have fun.”