Saturday with mixed conditions for the two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders, who were unable to finish off a very positive day in Q2 (12^th and 14^th)

Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders Alvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte will start from 12th and 14th, respectively, at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on race day, after a mixed and tricky Saturday at the Portuguese Grand Prix. After a Free Practice 2 session held on a completely wet track, Q2, saw traffic and yellow flags prevent the pair from achieving a better result.

A rainy start to the day left a wet track in the morning, with temperatures of 15°C and very high humidity of 77%.

Unlike other riders, who preferred to wait for the track conditions to improve, Uriarte decided to go out early to rack up laps and experience with wet tyres. Among the fastest riders from the start, he completed a long stint of almost 25 minutes, and rose to second on the timesheets. After pitting, he went back out for the final minutes, managing to maintain second place and achieve his best result to date in Moto3: A 2:00.600. Carpe also made the most of situation, putting in 9 laps. He started the session alongside his teammate to work on his wet setup, then decided to head to the pits as soon as he had finished his work of clocking a solid time, aiming to avoid unnecessary risks and save himself for Q2. He put in a 2:02.421, which placed him eleventh, and he returned to the garage in the final stages of the session -while other riders were heading out for the first time amidst better conditions.

In Qualifying, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders enjoyed the best conditions of the weekend, with a dry surface and bright sunshine. Track temperatures reached 29°C.

Fast early on, Carpe provisionally moved into seventh place after his first two flying laps of the session, setting his best time of the weekend before heading to the pits for a tyre change. When he resumed his work, traffic made things difficult, with all the riders waiting for each other, but he was finally able to push alone for a good spot on the grid. On his final attempt, Carpe set his fastest times in the first two sectors, but a crash of another rider in the final section forced the Spanish rider to ease off the throttle, preventing him from improving his lap further. He had to settle for a 1:47.429, meaning he will start 12th. He completed 7 laps in total. Uriarte followed his teammate during his first run, which allowed him to set the 14th fastest time. After changing tyres, he went back out on track at the back of the pack, and timed his push well: After a personal best in the first sector, Uriarte managed to avoid the yellow flag that affected other riders, improving his time to 1:47.508 -shaving three tenths off his top time from the weekend. It was enough to place him 14th in Q2 on his first weekend with the team.

In conclusion, it was a consistent Saturday with a good feeling for both Red Bull KTM Ajo riders in both dry and wet conditions, although the starting position does not quite do justice to their performance. Tomorrow, with the aim of fighting for the podium in Alvaro’s case and scoring good points and gaining experience in Brian’s one, both riders will compete in the penultimate race of the Moto3 World Championship season on Sunday, starting at 3:30 p.m. (local time), the last of the day. The Portuguese Grand Prix will consist of 19 laps.

Qualifying Results
1. Joel Kelso (KTM) | 1:46.764
2. Scott Ogden (KTM) | 1:46.833 (+0.069)
3. Angel Piqueras (KTM) | 1:46.927 (+0.163)
4. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 1:47.044 (+0.280)
5. Guido Pini (KTM) | 1:47.061 (+0.297)
12. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:47.429 (+0.665)
14. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:47.508 (+0.744)

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“I feel very comfortable with the team, and we’re clear on the small details we need to adjust for tomorrow’s race. Even so, the result doesn’t quite reflect our race pace, so we’ll need a good start. We’ll probably have to deal with a strong wind, so it will be a close race, and we’ll have to fight in the front group with a lot of riders. We have good pace, but I know we can find something more, so it’s time to work hard and arrive tomorrow at our 100%.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“I’m happy with today. The morning result was positive, and the feeling on a wet track was very good. Even so, I think we could have done a bit better in Qualifying. It wasn’t easy to set a clean lap with so much movement in the group, so we’ll have to start from 14th position, which isn’t a bad starting point really. We managed to improve many things compared to yesterday, and I think we can improve others for tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to Sunday. We’ll have to learn many more small things during the race.”