Good performance by Red Bull KTM Ajo on Friday of Emilia Romagna GP

22/10/2021

Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez experience mixed conditions today at Misano in the first two Free Practice sessions of the weekend.

 

For the second time this year, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 were at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Friday for the opening day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Remy Gardner finished in second place on the combined timesheets, with Raul Fernandez in eighth position. Despite the changing nature of the track conditions, both provisionally qualified for tomorrow’s Q2.

In the morning, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo had to face a track in wet conditions in FP1. Both decided to approach the session calmly, without taking unnecessary risks and trying to acquire information about the circuit. Fernandez upped his pace in the final stages, with a tenth best time of 1:49.305 from his 15th and last lap. Gardner experienced some difficulty and finished in 16th position, stopping the clock at 1:49.667 and completing 17 laps of the track.

The rain stopped before the start of FP2, and the track had mixed conditions with puddles on several corners. Gardner was the first rider to fit slicks, with which he set a time of 1:41.006 on his last attempt to finish in second position. The Australian was only 0.076 off the fastest rider. Fernandez was eighth after setting a personal best of 1:42.387 on his 14th and final lap.

Gardner and Fernandez will compete in FP3 tomorrow morning. The starting grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be decided in Q1 at 3:10 PM local time, followed by Q2 at 3:35 PM.

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)
1. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 1:40.930
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.006 +0.076
3. Xavi Vierge (Kalex) 1:41.012 +0.082
4. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 1:41.446 +0.516
5. Celestino Vietti (Kalex) 1:42.153 +1.223
8. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.387 +1.457

 

87 REMY GARDNER

“It was a positive day for us. In the wet we were missing something, but luckily in the afternoon the track started to dry out a bit and a line emerged. I was the first to run slicks, and little by little my feeling improved. I bettered my times and finally we finished very close to the top spot. In general, I am happy, and I feel good on the bike, so we will see what happens tomorrow and what conditions we have. The objective for tomorrow is to complete a strong qualifying session. If it is wet, it will be more difficult, but we will try to deal with the situation in the best possible way.”

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“Today was quite tricky, as we had to ride under quite difficult conditions. The first practice was completely wet and in the second the track had some damp patches, a situation that is tough to manage on the bike. The important thing is that tomorrow, if it rains, we will be through to Q2 and, if it is dry, we will have one more opportunity to continue working on the setup of our bike. In general, it was a positive and calm Friday.”

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