With a third-place finish in Q2, the rookie secures his first-ever Top 3 on Saturday. Carpe will take off from 13th at the Catalan Grand Prix after making the cut from Q1.

It was a remarkable Saturday for Red Bull KTM Ajo at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as both of their riders made it into Q2 and Brian Uriarte placed third, marking his maiden appearance on the front row and the team’s fourth of the season. Alvaro Carpe will start 13th in Sunday’s race after going through Q1 and and classifying to fight for the Pole Position.

Although the sun was shining on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the morning was colder than expected, at just 11ºC and with 66% humidity. The Red Bull KTM Ajo team took to the track for FP2.

Uriarte was the first rider out, working alone throughout the session. Focused on his race pace, the rookie didn’t push for a fast time at any point in the early going. After a trip to the garage and several adjustments to his bike’s setup, he went out for the final five minutes of the session for his Time Attack, which saw two consecutive fast laps and second place in FP2. He clocked a best time of 1:47.436, just 24 thousandths of a second off the top spot. Carpe started well, regaining confidence and making up for lost time from Friday afternoon. However, after a stint consisting of both laps within a group and solo runs, the Spaniard tried to follow several riders, but lost the front end of his bike entering Turn 2. Fortunately, he escaped unharmed from the crash, although he was unable to go back out and had to settle for 20th position, with a best time of 1:48.566. Carpe completed only 7 laps in the session.

Later in the afternoon, conditions improved significantly, with an ambient temperature of 19°C, track temperature of 33°C, and only 35% humidity.

In Q1, Carpe immediately shaved a second off his best lap of the weekend on his first flying lap, taking the top spot. He then changed tyres to go out alone and leave all his rivals without a tow. Although he did not improve his lap time on his second run, he managed to secure second place with his 1:47.382 after eight laps completed, making it through to Q2. In Q2, he couldn’t put together a clean lap on his first run, having to delay his Time Attack until the final minutes of the session, where he worked together with his teammate. After initially giving Uriarte a tow, Carpe then took advantage of his fellow Red Bull KTM Ajo rider’s slipstream to set a 1:47.171, his best time at the Catalan GP to date and his best ever in Barcelona. He will start from 13th, with his lap just under 5 tenths of a second off pole.

Uriarte completed seven laps, the same as his teammate, and secured his first front-row start as a Moto3 World Championship rider. The rookie, who had made a great start to the weekend previously, finished Saturday in third place on the grid with a 1:46.698, and had even topped the timesheets on two separate occasions during Q2. He was only 19 thousandths of a second off pole position, with what was his fastest lap of the weekend by a considerable margin.

All in all, it was a very positive day for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team, which not only managed to get both of its riders into Q2 but will also have one of them starting from the front row of the grid. The 18-lap Moto3 Catalan Grand Prix will take place on Sunday from 11:00 a.m. (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. Valentin Perrone (KTM) | 1:46.679
2. David Muñoz (KTM) | 1:46.684 (+0.005)
3. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:46.698 (+0.019)
4. David Almansa (KTM) | 1:46.815 (+0.136)
5. Marco Morelli (KTM) | 1:46.927 (+0.248)
13. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:47.171 (+0.492)

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“Saturday was a success. We’re feeling strong and I’m convinced we can be up there at the front tomorrow. From the outside, I understand how it might look like a disastrous weekend, but it’s definitely less so than it seems. The race will be very competitive and there will be a lot of fans, which is good for our chances of being able to finish strongly. Obviously, we haven’t been able to fine-tune some details, but that’s due to the lack of laps we’ve done. The crashes we’ve had happened at the beginning of sessions, which left us with very little track time. I’m ready to fight, give it my all, and above all, enjoy myself in front of the fans.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“My feeling was very good throughout today. This morning we were able to take another step forward and I felt very comfortable with my race pace. In Q2, things went very well and we came close to achieving our first pole position, although third place is also very good. It’s our first time on the front row, so I’m very happy with the result and really looking forward to having a good race tomorrow. We’ll try to get a good start, be strong, and fight as hard as we can through to the end.”