Jose Antonio Rueda will start the race in fifth position, with Xabi Zurutuza eleventh.

There was a very productive Saturday for Red Bull KTM Ajo at the Austrian Grand Prix. With both riders qualifying directly into Q2, Rueda and Zurutuza fought for the best grid position despite the hot temperatures. Rueda was fifth after he crashed while fighting for the front row, while Zurutuza equalled his best result and will start eleventh.

Practice 2 in the morning featured a drop in temperatures at the Red Bull Ring, meaning that the riders struggled to improve their times from Friday. Rueda looked to work on his race strategy and, whilst he did not feel as good as he had on the previous day, he remained among the top positions. After 14 laps, he was eighth in the session with a 1:40.611, the third best time overall. Zurutuza started Saturday with a very good feeling. He took a big step forward compared to Friday and improved his times to make it into Q2. After a pit stop, the rookie set his best time on the final attempt, with his 1:41.442 for twelfth -thirteenth on the combined timesheets.

Both riders went directly into Q2, which was made more difficult due to the high temperatures. Rueda quickly placed himself among the frontrunners and, following another pit stop, suffered a crash when fighting for pole position. From his 7 laps, he earned fifth position with a time of 1:40.287, just +0.2s off pole. Zurutuza had one of his best sessions of the season and maintained a good pace, lap after lap. He matched his best grid position to date, as a 1:40.781 took him up to eleventh for the contest at the Red Bull Ring.

The 20-laps Moto3 Austrian Grand Prix race takes place on Sunday at 11:00 am, local time.

Results Qualifying
1. Ivan Ortola (KTM) 1:40.057
2. Joel Kelso (KTM) 1:40.200 +0.143
3. Collin Veijer (Husqvarna) 1:40.216 +0.159
4. Daniel Holgado (GASGAS) 1:40.259 +0.202
5. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:40.287 +0.230
11. Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:40.781 +0.724

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“Today was very positive and we were able to see what works for us and what doesn’t for tomorrow’s race. The first laps of qualifying went very well, and I managed to get into second place, but when I changed tyre and went out again, I pushed a bit too hard and had a crash. But we know why we crashed and we know where we have to improve tomorrow. We will use all this information to have a good race tomorrow.”

#85 XABI ZURUTUZA

“We worked hard all weekend on the feeling of the bike and on the choice of track lines. I am very happy with the progress we made today -both me and my team. The objective today was to go straight into Q2 and we achieved that. In qualifying we took P11 for tomorrow, which is a good position. Tomorrow we will try to fight in the front group and learn new things.”