Seventh pole position of the year for Raul Fernandez

06/11/2021

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider breaks the circuit record and tomorrow he will head the starting grid with Gardner joining him in the second place.

 

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 were a force to be reckoned with in qualifying for the Algarve Grand Prix, with their two riders leading the combined practice timesheets and then establishing their authority in Q2. Raul Fernandez took his seventh pole position of the year – the 13th of his career -, whilst Remy Gardner was in second place and, for the 10th time this season, will be on the front row.

In the morning, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders showed that they are the strongest competitors of the weekend, leading the way in the final Free Practice session. Fernandez was fastest with a 1:42.462 on his tenth lap of 17, although he would suffer a late crash at Turn 13 on 22 minutes. Gardner finished in second place, just 0.036s slower. The Australian completed a total of 18 laps, his best a 1:42.498.

The two went directly into Q2 thanks to their dominant Free Practice performances, and in the session Fernandez claimed his seventh pole position of the year, breaking the circuit record at Portimao with a time of 1:42.101. Gardner will accompany the Spaniard on the front row of the grid, qualifying in second place with a personal best of 1:42.370.

Tomorrow at 2:30 PM local time, the penultimate race of the season will begin, scheduled for 23 laps. Remy Gardner has the opportunity to win the Moto2 title.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.101
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.370 +0.269
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Kalex) 1:42.506 +0.405
4. Aron Canet (Boscoscuro) 1:42.511 +0.410
5. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 1:42.616 +0.515

 

87 REMY GARDNER

“We are where we need to be. Raul [Fernandez] has been very fast today. I hope we can find some extra speed for tomorrow, although we have a pretty good race pace. I am happy, even more so because, after yesterday’s crash and the discomfort we felt, we qualified on the front row of the grid. We will try not to think too much about the title. We will simply try to have the best possible contest and score as many points as possible.”

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“I am very happy. I want to thank the team, because they did a great job on Wednesday and Thursday – as after the crash at Misano the bike was destroyed. Overall, I am very satisfied with the work we have done. This is a special circuit. Tomorrow we will go out to enjoy ourselves; we are at a beautiful part of the year, in which we are strong. We will try to take advantage of this to try to get the victory.”

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