Augusto Fernandez will start the Moto2 race from the third row of the grid, with Pedro Acosta on row 4

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 had a tough day of qualifying at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, and the team’s two riders, Augusto Fernandez and Pedro Acosta, earned eighth and 12th place on the starting grid for the Catalan GP.

In the FP3 session, the pair rode together with the aim of helping one another to achieve the best possible lap. Acosta improved his times from Friday in just four laps, then felt good throughout the rest of the runout, going third fastest courtesy of a 1:44.157 lap on his final attempt Fernandez struggled to get comfortable on his bike, placing 14th with a 1:44.474. Both riders made the cut for Q2 thanks to their Free Practice times.

In the qualifying session, Fernandez was able to clock a marginally faster time, setting a 1:44.430 that puts him eighth on the grid. Both he and his teammate had progressively improved their pace, but traffic on track in the final minutes meant they could not place higher up the order. Acosta finished 12th with a time of 1:44.691.

The 22-lap Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix race takes place on Sunday at 12:20 PM local time.

Results (Qualifying)
1. Celestino Vietti (Kalex) 1:43.823
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:43.831 +0.008
3. Joe Roberts (Kalex) 1:44.002 +0.179
4. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 1:44.045 +0.222
5. Albert Arenas (Kalex) 1:44.049 +0.226
8. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:44.430 +0.607
12. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:44.691 +0.868

#37 AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ

“Today was a difficult day; this morning I didn’t feel the same as yesterday. I did feel comfortable with the first set of tyres, but when we changed to the new tyre we couldn’t give that little bit extra, because it gave us a strange feeling. We didn’t want to make a lot of changes because, despite that, I had a good pace and yesterday things went well all day. Luckily with the second tyre I found a better feeling and I was able to set a faster time. Starting from the third row is not a disaster, I’m happy and we can have a good race tomorrow.”

#51 PEDRO ACOSTA

“We have the pace and the confidence to do well on Sunday. We could have qualified better but we can’t do anything about another rider running us wide. We did our job, we have a good feeling and tomorrow we have to make a good start. I think everyone is going to take risks tomorrow, and we will have to take it easy. It could be a long race and it is important to know how to manage it.”