The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider, with a great Saturday, was the fastest and Q1 and finished third in Q2. Carpe will take off from 18th -after having his fastest lap cancelled.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s second day at Balaton Park saw Brian Uriarte secure an impressive front row spot after advancing from Q1 and taking third place on the grid. Alvaro Carpe was unable to set a flying lap in the fight for Pole Position and will start 18th in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The sun shone brighter over Balaton Park on Saturday than it did on Saturday. With fewer clouds over the track, track temperatures rose slightly, reaching 28°C, with 57% humidity.

Carpe began FP2 working on his race pace, which left him temporarily adrift on the timesheets. As the laps progressed, he felt more comfortable, achieving his best lap on his eighth attempt. Without using fresh tyres on any of his 14 laps, he finished fourth with a 1:45.831, 3 tenths of a second faster than his best time from last year in Hungary. He also improved on his Friday time by more than a second, demonstrating a clear step forward on Saturday morning. Uriarte completed the same number of laps as his teammate, and despite suffering a minor crash identical to that of Carpe the previous day on the entry to Turn 9, he was able to improve significantly compared to Friday. His top time of 1:46.169 was also a second faster than his Friday time, giving him sixth position and confidence ahead of Q1.

In the afternoon, temperatures rose for the qualifying sessions, making conditions even more challenging. Track temperature was up to 44°C, with 40% humidity.

In Q1, Uriarte went out alone and completed two consecutive fast laps on his first run, firmly establishing himself in first place, with an almost 3 tenths of a second advantage over the rider in second place. After changing tyres, he went out again to accumulate kilometres, but without needing to push for a fast time. He returned to the pits slightly earlier than his rivals to better prepare for Q2, as his time of 1:46.232 topped the session after completing seven laps. In Q2, Uriarte rode by himself again, putting in a long first run that took him to second place. He managed to lower his fastest time to 1:46.323, slightly slower than in the first session. Only six riders had a hot lap recorded until the final two minutes, due to several crashes and numerous yellow flags. In the last four minutes, Uriarte went back out, although it was his previous time that earned him a front-row start for the second time this season, in third place.

Carpe was one of those affected by the yellow flags, which forced him to wait until the last moment to set a lap time. With just enough time for a single flying lap, he clocked a good time, which would have secured him sixth place, but it was subsequently cancelled after having exceeded the track limits at Turn 17 -the last one. As a result, Carpe dropped to the back of the pack in Q2 and will start from 18th -on the sixth row of the grid.

All in all, it was a bittersweet Saturday for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team, which saw a clear improvement with Uriarte, particularly on Saturday afternoon, but suffered with Carpe, who couldn’t put in a valid lap during Q2 and will have to comeback from the sixth row of the starting grid. The 20-lap Moto3 Hungarian Grand Prix starts at 11 a.m. (local time) on Sunday.

Qualifying Results
1. David Almansa (KTM) | 1:45.686
2. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 1:45.750 (+0.064)
3. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:46.323 (+0.637)
4. Valentin Perrone (KTM) | 1:46.371 (+0.685)
5. Jesus Rios (Honda) | 1:46.410 (+0.724)
18. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | No Time Set

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“Obviously, this isn’t the result we wanted, but we felt fast, and that’s what we have to focus on. Free Practice 2 went well; we felt comfortable working on our race pace, and I think we’re ready for tomorrow. However, what happened in Q2 puts us a bit further back on the grid, so tomorrow we’ll have to fight our way back if we want to battle for the positions at the front. We know we need a good start and to be strong from the beginning, so we’re going to fine-tune a few things and prepare our race strategy well.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“We are working well, and today’s result is the best example of that. We feel much more comfortable. The circuit is technically challenging, but we have taken a solid step forward since yesterday. The result in Italy hasn’t affected us, and we are focused on doing well here, at a track with completely opposite characteristics. Yesterday we started from scratch, focused on progressing as quickly as possible, and today we did much better. Luckily, the crash this morning wasn’t serious, and we were able to reset for Qualifying. I know there are very fast riders here, but we will try to compete and have a good race.”