After Friday’s sessions were suspended, Holgado and Masia completed a busy day to qualify on the second and fourth row, respectively.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 had a gruelling Saturday at Termas de Rio Hondo, completing two free practices plus qualifying for the Argentina GP on the same day, after all action was cancelled on Friday due to logistical problems. The team’s two riders both went directly into Q2, a session in which Dani Holgado was sixth. The rookie will start tomorrow’s race from the second row of the grid, whilst Jaume Masia will be on Row 4, after finishing in 12th position.

Thanks to the hard work of the team overnight, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 duo were able to go out on track first thing in the morning for a longer FP1 than usual, with 50 minutes of activity. Holgado showed a rapid adaptation to the Argentine track that was new to him, concluding the first session in fifth after setting a time of 1:49.769, on his penultimate attempt of a total of 21. Masia finished eighth after stopping the clock at 1:49.934, on his 17th lap of the 19 he put in during the practice.

In FP2, Masia took a step forward, lowering his time from the morning. His 1:48.985 put him second, as he racked up 19 laps in total. Holgado continued to accumulate kilometres, with a total of 22 laps – the best taking him to 20th with a 1:50.303.

The two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders went straight into Q2, after placing in the Top 14 on the combined Free Practice timesheets. In the session, Holgado claimed an outstanding sixth position – with a 1:48.865 – on his first experience at the circuit. The rookie will start from the second row of the grid, with his teammate in fourth. Masia qualified 12th thanks to a time of 1:49.186.

The 21-lap Argentina GP gets underway at 12 PM local time on Sunday.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) 1:48.429
2. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 1:48.600 +0.171
3. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 1:48.624 +0.195
4. Riccardo Rossi (Honda) 1:48.726 +0.297
5. Joel Kelso (KTM) 1:48.735 +0.306
6. Dani Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:48.865 +0.436
12. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:49.186 +0.757

#5 JAUME MASIA

“I’m happy with the feeling I had today on the bike. We finally qualified in 12th position, so tomorrow we will have to work hard in the race. I expect it will be a contest run in a group, although that will mean that we will have to push as hard as we can on the closing laps. We will do our best to try to get a good result.”

#96 DANI HOLGADO

“It has been a good day for us, although very complete or, at least, different from other Saturdays. I’m happy because in FP1, from the first few laps, we had a positive feeling both with the bike and with the track – which is new to us. In FP2, we found it a little harder but, luckily, we managed to take a step forward in qualifying and we got the sixth place. I am very motivated for tomorrow’s race; it will be long, but we will try to enjoy it to the fullest and continue learning. I want to thank the team for all the work they did overnight, so that we could get out on track.”