The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders will start the race third and eleventh, respectively.

On Saturday at the Italian Grand Prix, Jose Antonio Rueda continued amongst the Top 3, whilst Xabi Zurutuza had an outstanding day, qualifying directly for Q2 for the first time and setting the eleventh best lap.

Practice 2 featured Rueda once again setting a fierce pace, being one of the few who has managed to lap below the circuit record that had been in place before the weekend. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider improved his times by more than a second and fine-tuned his setup for qualifying. After 13 laps, Rueda finished in sixth position, with a time of 1:54.797. Zurutuza continues to grow in the category and adapt to new situations. Significantly improving his time, he claimed twelfth position; his time of 1:55.466 allowing him to go directly into Q2 for the first time.

In the 15 minute qualifying session, Rueda started on the right foot and tried to put together a good lap from the off. Amongst the frontrunners early on, after a pit stop he pushed until the final moments, when he set his best lap of 1:54.797, with which he took third position on the grid. Zurutuza, who has had a very good feeling since the first day at Mugello, came very close to lowering his morning times. He completed a total of 7 laps, setting his best time in the last of them. A 1:55.590 will allow him to start from the fourth row, in eleventh place, following his plan for the weekend.

The 17-lap Moto3 Italian Grand Prix race will begin at 11:00 am, local time, on Sunday.

Results Qualifying
1. David Alonso (CFMoto) 1:54.194
2. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 1:54.441 +0.247
3. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:54.797 +0.603
4. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 1:54.906 +0.712
5. Daniel Holgado (GasGas) 1:55.112 +0.918
11. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:55.590 +1.396

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I am very happy to be back again on the front row, after another great qualifying session. This was a track that I struggled at in the past, so we have worked hard to improve. These results are the fruit of the great work by the team. I really enjoyed riding the bike today. Tomorrow’s race will be very fast so I hope to get a great start. I am sure there will be a lot of overtaking at the start, as always in this class, but I am prepared to fight. I will give my best tomorrow.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“This second day has been very positive and we have managed to achieve yesterday’s objective of getting a direct spot in Q2. In Q2 we did a very good job with my teammate, where we both achieved very good qualifying times. Tomorrow we will try to fight to reach the front group and achieve the best possible result.”