Red Bull KTM Ajo secure a first Pole of the season through Carpe, with teammate Uriarte starting from 14th on the grid.

A perfect Saturday for Alvaro Carpe in Austin saw the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider topping both sessions, claiming his first Pole Position of the season -the second of his career- in Q2. Setting the all-time track record in both practice sessions, particularly in Q2, where he was more than four-tenths of a second faster than all his rivals, Alvaro was the fastest all day, after working well together with his teammate. Brian Uriarte also made progress at COTA, to earn 14th place on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Although the track remained dry from the start of the day, cloudy skies brought the temperature down to 21ºC at COTA, which has enabled the all-time track record to be broken once again.

Carpe continued his progress from Friday, riding alone and amongst the Top 5 early on. Either side of a red flag caused by Cormac Buchanan’s crash, he improved his time on several occasions late on, demonstrating his consistency without the need for a tow. On his last attempt, Carpe consolidated first position in FP2 with a final 2:13.190, improving his best time from the previous day by more than a second and achieving the best lap ever in Austin with a Moto3 bike. On course to adding the top spot in FP2 to his FP1 result, he completed 13 laps.

Uriarte climbed several positions, consistently riding among the Top 10. Also working alone to gather as much data as possible, he had already lowered his best time from Friday during the first part of the session by four tenths. In the final stages, working with used tyres, he was unable to go any faster, having to settle for 11th place courtesy of a 2:14.076. Like his teammate, Uriarte also rode 13 laps.

In the afternoon, conditions were even more productive for Qualifying, with a track temperature of 37°C.

Carpe led the way when Q2 began, setting a time of 2:12.589 on his first flying lap, working together with his teammate Uriarte. His initial time was almost 6 tenths of a second quicker than his morning marker, and set the tone for the session. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider maintained his lead through to his second run, awaiting the final Time Attacks. Again working together with Brian, he took another 4 tenths off his time to stop the clock at an amazing 2:12.107. The Spaniard was 4 tenths quicker than his nearest rival and 7 tenths faster than the riders on the second row, as he set a new track record to achieve his maiden Pole of 2026.

Uriarte put in his best time on his second run of Q2, following in the slipstream of his teammate and also helping him to achieve their great laptimes. That left him in a strong spot going into his pit stop, but when he went back out he was unable to complete a perfect lap. Thus, his 2:13.561 from the start of the session -5 tenths faster than his best time of the weekend- put him 14th. He completed 7 laps, matching his teammate.

All in all, it was a perfect Saturday for Red Bull KTM Ajo, who secured their first Pole Position of the season with a perfect performance from Carpe in Q2. With both riders on the front rows of the grid, the pole-sitter himself and Uriarte will be aiming to round off the weekend tomorrow. The 14-lap Moto3 United States Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday in Austin at 12:15 p.m. local time.

Qualifying Results
1. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:12.107
2. Casey O’Gorman (Honda) | 2:12.519 (+0.412)
3. Valentin Perrone (KTM) | 2:12.526 (+0.419)
4. Veda Pratama (Honda) | 2:12.813 (+0.706)
5. Guido Pini (Honda) | 2:12.837 (+0.730)
14. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:13.561 (+1.454)

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“The feeling of getting another pole position is fantastic. I had two incredible laps, completely turning around the feeling I had in Brazil. Here in Austin, I’ve felt great from the first moment, and now I’m much more comfortable today than yesterday, which is very, very positive. I love the track, and so far everything has gone smoothly, so we’re going all-out tomorrow. In Moto3, anything can happen, but I’ll try to be at the front of the pack and enjoy the race to the fullest from start to finish.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“This Saturday was positive. This morning we were able to do a lot of laps, which is something we needed here. In Q2 we couldn’t put together a clean lap and the frontrunners were very fast. It’s very difficult to put together a good lap in Austin because it’s a really long track. We need more laps under our belts, but we have to work with the time we have, and that’s what we did. Tomorrow we’ll have to move up the order a bit, take another step forward, and learn as much as possible from such a unique race.”