Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders complete the first day at MotorLand in seventh and tenth place, respectively, among the early frontrunners.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team started their preparatory sessions for the Aragon GP with two Free Practice sessions on Friday. Feeling comfortable in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira had a fast pace from the get go, and kept up with the top riders in the Moto2 class. The pair were among the few to lower their times in FP2, with laps that allowed Binder to complete the day in seventh place and Oliveira very close behind in tenth.

Oliveira and Binder started off the weekend on the right track, showing that the work done in test in recent weeks was a step forward. On their first run, both were inside the Top 10. Making a single stop in the garage, without changing tyres, they continued to set a good pace, keeping inside the 1:54s. FP1 finished with the Portuguese in eighth position -1:54.233- and the South African in eleventh -1:54.411.

In the second session, the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders managed to make progress despite the high track temperatures of up to 45ºC. Oliveira was one of the first riders to lower his time from the morning, doing so on his first hot lap. The time earned him sixth position -1:54.117- at the end of day one. Binder had to wait until his final stint, but improved his times twice, breaking into the Top 3 with a 1:53.980.

Tomorrow, the duo will attempt to carry their good form over to qualifying, which gets underway at 3:05pm local time. Oliveira was on pole for the Aragon GP last year.

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)
1. Marcel Schrotter (Kalex) 1:53.570
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex) 1:53.754 +0.184
3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 1:53.842 +0.272
4. Sam Lowes (KTM) 1:53.896 +0.326
5. Fabio Quartararo (Speed Up) 1:53.915 +0.345
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:53.980 +0.410
10. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:54.117 +0.547

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA

“Overall everything went well and I’m satisfied with the work done. We were able to see the results of the test from last week, but today the grip on the track was much higher than during the test; in the morning the grip level made us vary the setup of the bike. It was also very hot. We are looking for more stability with the front end, especially in the more twisty part of the circuit, and for the bike to turn a little more. We thought that the soft tyre would be the one that would give us the fewest problems, but the opposite turned out to be the case, so tomorrow we will try again. We have to plan a good strategy for qualifying that allows us to get a good grid position.”

41 BRAD BINDER

“The truth is that today went pretty well. From the moment I went out on track this morning I felt very comfortable on my KTM. Everything worked well and that’s good, because we came here three weeks ago, just before the San Marino GP, and were able to take advantage of that data to advance our work. We’re already in a good position. Overall everything went well and I have a good feeling with the bike. There are a couple of things that I want to fix for tomorrow and if we can do that then we can take another big step forward for Sunday.”