The Red Bull KTM Ajo duo finish in tenth and fourteenth, respectively.

The British GP had an exciting qualifying on Saturday, with both riders working to get the best possible grid position. Jose Antonio Rueda fought for the first row of the grid, although his best lap was cancelled, so he will start tenth. Xabi Zurutuza will start in fourteenth position after going through Q1 and achieving one of his best results of the season.

The second day at Silverstone began with overcast skies and a drop in temperatures, making improving times more difficult. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders continued to work on getting a good setup for qualifying and the race, with Rueda fighting for the top positions. The Spanish rider struggled to find his best form and was unable to improve on the combined timesheets, but remained in Q2 as his 2:10.603 on the final lap placed him in eighth, twelfth overall. Zurutuza lowered his times by more than half a second. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was feeling increasingly comfortable and set his best time of 2:11.384, which placed him in seventeenth position, 22nd overall.

Zurutuza went into Q1 and, on a great final lap, even managed to occupy first position, although his 2:11.424 eventually put him in third place -making the cut for Q2. Rueda and Zurutuza worked as a team to continue closing the gap on the leaders in Q2. After a pit stop, Rueda fought for the front row, but his lap was cancelled out, thus keeping him in tenth position with a time of 2:10.786. He will start from the fourth row of the grid. Zurutuza will take off from fourteenth position, on the fifth row, after setting a time of 2:11.097 on his second lap. It was one of his best qualifying results this season.

The Moto3 British GP race will be held over 15 laps on Sunday, at 11:15 local time.

Results Qualifying
1. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 2:09.270
2. Collin Veiijer (Husqvarna) 2:09.311 +0.041
3. Joel Kelso (KTM) 2:09.753 +0.483
4. David Alonso (CFMOTO) 2:09.898 +0.628
5. Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM) 2:09.931 +0.661
10. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:10.786 +1.516
14. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:11.097 +1.827

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“Overall, today went pretty well. Although we didn’t feel very comfortable in Practice 2, we were able to recover our feeling in Qualifying. We changed a few things on the bike and found the way forward to be able to go faster on this circuit. It’s a shame that my fastest lap was cancelled due to a yellow flag, because we could have finished in the Top 5. But overall we’re happy and we’ll have to be ready to fight tomorrow.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“The second day at Silverstone was quite positive; we’ve already achieved the objective of going from Q1 to Q2. Thanks to that time, we’ll start the race tomorrow from 14th position, so we’ll try to give our all and get as many points as possible. We have to continue like this, learning and improving.”