Dani Holgado will start the race from fifteenth place. Jaume Masia will begin from pit lane.

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 participated in qualifying for the Valencian Grand Prix this Saturday at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Dani Holgado went straight into Q2 and finished in fifteenth place, whilst Jaume Masia had to contest Q1 and was eleventh in Q2.

The third and final Free Practice of the weekend began with low temperatures, anthough Holgado was comfortable from the opening moments and took ninth place. After returning to the garage, the Moto3 rookie gave his best to remain among the Top 14. He achieved his best lap on the last attempt, with a time of 1:39.109 which put him through to Q2, in eleventh place. Masia worked hard to find a good feeling with his bike. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider was involved in a collision with another rider on his final lap, and went on to be handed a Long Lap penalty and a start from pitlane due to his reaction to the incident. He would also have to enter Q1.

In Q1 he showed great pace, making his way into Q2 as the second fastest rider and taking advantage of the extra track time to find the best setup for the race. Holgado completed a demanding qualifying session and has tried to get the best position on the starting grid. After completing eight laps, he was fifteenth with a time of 1:39.146.

The 23-lap Moto3 race will take place on Sunday at 11 AM local time.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Izan Guevara (GasGas) 1:38.479
2. Deniz Öncü (KTM) 1:38.525 +0.046
3. Sergio Garcia (GasGas) 1:38.654 +0.175
4. Diogo Moreira (KTM) 1:38.697 +0.218
5. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 1:38.761 +0.282
11. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:39.016 +0.537
15. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:39.146 +0.667

#5 JAUME MASIA

“We have worked throughout the weekend thinking about the race and getting a good feeling with the bike. In FP3 I was improving my times but I had a collision with another rider and we crashed, in what was the last lap of the session. I want to apologise to everyone for what happened, because I didn’t react in the correct way. I’m aware that there is no justification, and my reaction was wrong. I’m very sorry for my behaviour and for the image I gave off to the fans, and it is something that should not be repeated. We accept the penalty and tomorrow we will approach the race in the best possible way.”

#96 DANI HOLGADO

“Today we took a step forward compared to yesterday and we found a good setup for the bike. We are ready for tomorrow’s race despite the fact that we will start a little far behind. It will be a tough race but it gives me extra motivation to do well at the last race of the year, and even more so in front of our fans.”