The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider continues his perfect record in Free Practice and qualifying this weekend, whilst Gardner will start from second place.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 had another stellar performance in qualifying for the Americas Grand Prix, with their two riders at the front of the starting grid for the 15th round of 2021. Fernandez stormed to his sixth pole of the season – the twelfth of his career – after setting the Free Practice pace at COTA. Gardner had a great Saturday for the team, getting second position and securing a spot on Row 1.The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 pair started the day well,

FP3 after improving their Friday times. Fernandez was once again the fastest rider, clocking a 2:09.258 set on his penultimate attempt of 14. The Spaniard was thus quickest in every Free Practice session held in Austin this weekend. Just behind him, in second place, Gardner put down a 2:09.319 on his 13th lap of 14.

The two riders went directly into Q2, thanks to their stellar Free Practice pace. In that session, Raul Fernandez carried over his form to take the pole position, through a 2:08.979 final lap. Alongside him on the front row of the grid will be Remy Gardner, whose personal best time of the weekend – a 2:09.299 – put him second.

The 18-lap Moto2 Americas Grand Prix takes place at 12:20 PM local time on Sunday.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:08.979
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:09.299 +0.320
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Kalex) 2:09.457 +0.478
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 2:09.557 +0.578
5. Cameron Beaubier (Kalex) 2:09.584 +0.605

87 REMY GARDNER

“We used a different strategy today. We had seen that in Free Practice, both Raul [Fernandez] and I had a little more pace than the rest of the riders, so I knew that in qualifying I might encounter traffic. So we decided to go out on track a little later. However, due to a crash, there was a yellow flag, and I was not able to set a good time on the first three laps, when the tyres were cooler. We finally qualified on the front row and, as I always say, the important thing comes tomorrow: the race. We have a strong pace, the bike is running well and I feel prepared.”

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“We had a nice battle with Remy [Gardner] in qualifying, as he improved and I lowered my times again in response. We are very evenly matched. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we both have something extra compared to the rest of the competitors, so I’m sure that we will see a nice duel between the two of us again. We will do our best to try to leave Austin with a great result.”