Challenging qualifying for Fernandez and Gardner at Misano
23/10/2021The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo qualify on the third and fifth rows of the grid, respectively, for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The starting grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was set on a tricky Saturday due to weather conditions today in Misano. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 talents went straight through to Q2, after no rider was able to lower their times in FP3. In the qualifying session itself, Raul Fernandez was 9th, despite suffering a crash in the final moments, with Remy Gardner in 14th place.
The last Free Practice of the weekend was held in wet conditions, amidst light rain. Faced with the impossibility of improving from Friday, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo used the session to gather information for a possible wet qualifying. Fernandez took things calmly, and in the final stages he pushed to set a 1:48.447 on his last lap of 18. He took fifth place on the timesheets, and Gardner was 11th from 16 laps, stopping the clock at 1:48.959.
In Q2, the track still had some damp patches, creating very delicate conditions. This caused Fernandez to crash at Turn 2 with two minutes remaining, ending the Spaniard’s progression. Nevertheless, he finished 9th – 1:37.602 – and will start from the third row of the grid. On Row 5 will be Gardner, who was 14th after completing a 1:37.825 lap.
The 25-lap Moto2 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is scheduled for tomorrow at 12:20 PM local time.
Results (Qualifying session)
1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:36.510
2. Jorge Navarro (Boscoscuro) 1:36.555 +0.045
3. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 1:36.744 +0.234
4. Aron Canet (Boscoscuro) 1:36.950 +0.440
5. Celestino Vietti (Kalex) 1:37.100 +0.590
9. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.602 +1.092
14. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.825 +1.315
87 REMY GARDNER
“It was a tough day for us. We did not expect to be that far behind in qualifying, but the conditions were very difficult. However, the race is tomorrow, and we have to fight our hardest, be strong and ride smoothly. We will do everything in our power to achieve a good result at this contest. Once again, I want to thank the team for all the work they are doing.”
25 RAUL FERNANDEZ
“This has been a tricky weekend, due to the weather conditions we are having. It seems that the track is going to dry out quickly, but it didn’t stop spitting with rain. Even so, it was a positive day and I felt very good riding in the wet. It was a shame, because in Q2 I shouldn’t have stopped in the box since I couldn’t warm up the tyre afterwards and I crashed. I apologise to the team for this, and we have to learn from it. Tomorrow we will push to the fullest from the start, although it will be an uncertain race because no one has been able to ride with a dry setup.”