Jaume Masia will start from ninth position on the grid, with Dani Holgado thirteenth

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders competed in qualifying at Phillip Island on Saturday, and both Jaume Masia and Dani Holgado went directly into Q2 for the Australian Grand Prix: Masia will start from the third row of the grid, in ninth, while Holgado will be on the fifth row, in thirteenth.

The third and final Free Practice session of the weekend was used to make final adjustments before qualifying. Holgado continued to adapt to the track and focused on improving his times to avoid having to go into Q1. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was consistent throughout FP3 and, after a stop in the garage, pushed to set the third fastest time -a 1:36.609- on his penultimate lap. Masia quickly bettered his Friday times and, despite suffering a crash at Turn 1, was able to resume the session. After completing a total of 13 laps, he finished in tenth position with a time of 1:37.208, which also allowed him to move straight into Q2.

Masia began Q2 determined to set a good time early and was competitive throughout. With less than 10 minutes to go, he moved into second, and tried to maintain this spot with a high pace. After completing seven laps, he was ninth with a time of 1:36.852. Holgado struggled to find a good feeling in the session. He improved lap after lap in search of a favourable position on the grid and, on his last attempt, clocked a 1:37.030 which puts him 13th on the grid.

The 23-lap Moto3 Australian Grand Prix race will take place on Sunday at 11am local time.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 1:35.854
2. Sergio Garcia (GasGas) 1:36.041 +0.187
3. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 1:36.579 +0.725
4. Carlos Tatay (CFMoto) 1:36.671 +0.817
5. Diogo Moreira (KTM) 1:36.680 +0.826
9. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:36.852 +0.998
13. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.030 +1.176

#5 JAUME MASIA

“Tomorrow we start from the third row, although we know that qualifying could have gone better. In the race we will have to give our all to get to the front at early and fight to be there at the end. I’m happy with how the day went; I have a good feeling and we can achieve a good result.”

#96 DANI HOLGADO

“Tomorrow we start from the third row, although we know that qualifying could have gone better. In the race we will have to give our all to get to the front at early and fight to be there at the end. I’m happy with how the day went; I have a good feeling and we can achieve a good result.”