Pedro Acosta and Jaume Masia place fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of a chance at Rider and Team titles.

Rain and low temperatures once again affected proceedings at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday. Despite the tough conditions, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders lowered their FP3 lap times, going on to qualify on the second row of the grid for the 16th round of the 2021 season in Misano. Pedro Acosta will occupy fifth position, with his teammate Jaume Masia alongside him in sixth place.

The day began with thick fog and a fine rain for FP3. Despite the track conditions, the team took a step forward from Friday and lowered their times. Acosta went directly into Q2 after finishing eighth, thanks to a time of 1:52.122 set on his eighth attempt out of a total of 17. Masia was 15th after stopping the clock at 1:52.523, putting in 15 laps.

In the afternoon, Qualifying 2 took place in wet conditions, and Acosta rallied to take the fifth position on the grid with his 1:49.582 best lap. Joining him on the second row will be Masia, who made it out of Q1 and then set a time of 1:49.633 to earn the sixth place.

The 23-lap Emilia Romagna Grand Prix takes place on Sunday at 11 AM local time. Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 have the opportunity to seal both the Rider and Team titles.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 1:48.563
2. Filip Salac (KTM) 1:49.174 +0.611
3. Riccardo Rossi (KTM) 1:49.280 +0.717
4. Izan Guevara (GasGas) 1:49.495 +0.932
5. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:49.582 +1.019
6. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:49.633 +1.070

5 JAUME MASIA

“I am very happy. With this performance we salvaged the weekend. Our goal was to be in the Top 12 and we have more than met that expectation. Everything indicates that the race will be dry, so it will not be as difficult as it has been up to now. I am satisfied to have solved the issues that we had, as we had to work hard. I want to thank the team for all their work. Tomorrow we will do everything we can to try to get a good result.”

37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“Overall, it was a great Saturday for us, despite the cold and rainy weather conditions. Most importantly of all, we completed the day without making any mistakes that could have led to a crash. I felt good on the bike, and I rode comfortably with the tyres that we tried. We were very focused on our work and, finally, the result was positive. Now we have to wait and see if it rains tomorrow or not but, regardless of that, we will try to have a strong race.”