Red Bull KTM Ajo rider gets his second pole position of the season at the Aragon GP. Brad Binder will start from the seventh row tomorrow.

The Moto2 Aragon GP had its pole position decided beyond the 45 minute shootout on Saturday afternoon. Doubts amongst Race Direction as to whether to award Miguel Oliveira pole or scrub his lap meant that for several minutes the Portuguese was relegated to ninth position. Fortunately for him, his 1:53.736 lap was eventually deemed to be valid and the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was able to take his second Moto2 pole of the season. Brad Binder suffered in the session and had to settle for 20th place -on the seventh row of the grid.

In the last Free Practice session the Moto2 riders were finally able to ride on a completely dry track, with temperatures of 25ºC. This has made it easier for yesterday’s times to be lowered within a matter of minutes. Miguel Oliveira was again one of the fastest riders and was troubling the Top 3, although he would eventually finish in fifth position -1:54.376. Putting 19 more laps under his belt, Binder clocked a time more than a second faster than yesterday -1:55.204- for twentieth.

Both Oliveira and Binder saved their best laps for the main event of the day: Qualifying. In fifth and eighteenth place, respectively, before their final run, the pair set their best laps of the weekend in the closing minutes. Oliveira surprised everyone on his sixteenth lap with an extraordinary final sector, leaping up to pole position with a 1:53.736 time. Binder waited until his final lap to set a time of 1:54.870, again for twentieth.

Tomorrow both riders will try to fight for another great result in this first season for KTM in Moto2. Both already have podium experience at MotorLand Aragon in Moto3. The race takes place from 12:20pm.

Results (Qualifying Practice)
1. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:53.736
2. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) 1:53.757 +0.021
3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 1:53.807 +0.071
4. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 1:53.841 +0.105
5. Simone Corsi (Speed Up) 1:53.876 +0.140
20. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:54.870 +1.134

41 BRAD BINDER
“Both yesterday and this morning I didn’t feel very comfortable with the bike, but for qualifying we changed to a setup with which I am more accustomed and everything improved a lot. We weren’t able to complete a very fast lap, but my pace is fairly good, even if it only gave us 20th position. There are some points on the track where if everything goes well, I know that I can gain positions and do a good job tomorrow. I am prepared and determined to make another great comeback.”

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“The truth is that we couldn’t ask for more. This pole position will be very important for the start of tomorrow’s race. We’re confident because we have a very good pace, although other riders do as well. I think there could be a group at the front, so we will have to be prepared to fight -especially when the tyres begin to drop off. It will be interesting to see who is strong then. After getting pole, seeing there had been a penalty and then having it given back, we could say that I already did my warmup for tomorrow walking up and down pitlane! Even if I hadn’t been given it in the end, I would still have been happy with my pace.”