Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 have a positive Saturday to qualify on the second and third rows.

There were sixth and seventh positions for Brian Uriarte and Alvaro Carpe in Q2 at the Aragon Grand Prix. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders had a productive Saturday and will start from the second and third rows of the grid at MotorLand Aragon.

Conditions during Free Practice 2 were very similar to those from Friday morning. A track temperature of around 23°C welcomed the Moto3 grid for FP2.

Just like on Friday, Uriarte started Free Practice 2 strongly, immediately clocking his best time of the weekend up to that point. The rookie quickly dispelled any doubts about his fitness after Friday’s crash, and remained in the Top 3 for almost the entire session. With five minutes remaining, Uriarte pitted to try and fine-tune his setup, going back out in the final stages. He finished in sixth place with a time of 1:57.603, 8 tenths of a second faster than in Practice. Carpe made steady improvement in the same way as in FP1. After an initial spell outside the Top 15, he rose to fourth place, just behind his teammate. Working on used tyres, the Spaniard couldn’t improve further in the final part of the session, and finished just behind Uriarte in seventh place. He put in 15 laps, with his best a 1:57.873, slightly faster than his quickest time from Friday. 

In the afternoon, temperatures rose at MotorLand to reach 45ºC on track, with conditions very similar to Friday’s Practice.

In Q1, Uriarte was the first rider out. Before even starting his first flying lap, had already managed to pull away from the rest of the field, allowing him to work alone. With a provisional second place after the first flying lap, he continued to push, setting a 1:57.049 and securing first place in Q1. After changing tyres, the rest of the riders tried to follow the rookie, but again he pushed to the limit to leave them behind. Despite being on course to lower his best time, a scare made him sit up and prevented him from improving on his previous marker. Uriarte took first place after completing seven laps.

In Q2, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders went out together, setting a great first flying lap that provisionally put them first and second on the timesheets. After changing tyres, Uriarte slotted in behind his teammate to try and reclaim pole position from another rider. However, the constant slipstreaming from the large group changed proceedings considerably. So much that, despite both improving on their final flying lap, Uriarte and Carpe could only manage sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Uriarte posted a 1:56.644, improving his Q1 time by almost 4 tenths of a second. Carpe was just 26 thousandths of a second slower than his teammate, with a 1:56.670 -his best ever time at MotorLand Aragon. Both completed six laps in total.

In conclusion, it was another solid second day for the two Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders, who managed to finish battling for Pole Position on equal terms. Their aim is to score vital points in tomorrow’s race and fight for the win. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders will compete in the 17-lap Moto3 Aragon Grand Prix on Sunday, taking to the track at 11:00 a.m. (local time).

Qualifying Results
1. David Almansa (KTM) | 1:56.347
2. Marco Morelli (KTM) | 1:56.380 (+0.033)
3. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 1:56.390 (+0.043)
4. Matteo Bertelle (KTM) | 1:56.606 (+0.259)
5. Adrian Cruces (KTM) | 1:56.613 (+0.266)
6. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:56.644 (+0.297)
7. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:56.670 (+0.323)

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“We’re still on an upward trajectory, and that’s very positive. Throughout all the sessions, we’ve felt fast enough to fight at the front during the race, so we’re going to go for it. We’ve been building a good base to work from, so I think it’s realistic to expect a good result tomorrow. Tyre drop-off will be key, so we’ll have to keep an eye on the other riders with good pace to see how they approach the race. We’ll try to fight and give our all in front of our home crowd, who have been giving us a lot of support.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“Today was a very complete day. Yesterday’s crash is behind me now, and I felt good, so everything was perfect in that respect. This morning, Free Practice 2 went exactly as it should. We’re among the fastest in terms of pace, so tomorrow we’ll need to position ourselves well to reach the crucial part of the race with confidence. Qualifying also went as we had hoped, and we were able to make it out of Q1, which was vital to getting onto the first two rows. We’re now focused on tomorrow, so we’re going to give it our all, especially since we’re racing at home, which always gives us an extra boost.”