Augusto Fernandez and Pedro Acosta will start from the third and fourth rows of the grid, respectively, tomorrow at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit.

The Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit held qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, amidst high temperatures at the Andalusian track. In the last Free Practice session, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders both made it directly into Q2. There, Augusto Fernandez qualified ninth, and he will start tomorrow’s race from the third row. Pedro Acosta will be on Row 4 in tenth position.

After a positive opening day, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders improved their times further in FP3 on Saturday morning. Acosta made the biggest leap forward and, after stopping the clock at 1:41.673, finished in fifth position, just 0.117 off the top spot. The reigning Moto3 World Champion completed 18 laps in the session. Fernandez was 12th with a personal best of 1:41.869, on his 10th lap of 19.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo pair both made the cut for Q2. In that session, Fernandez was not able to carry over his good feeling from Free Practice, and tomorrow he will start from ninth position, his best time a 1:41.901 after completing eight laps. Acosta showed improvement compared to Friday and found a good pace for the race. The Spaniard set a final fast lap at the end of the session that will allow him to start from tenth position on the grid.

The 23-lap Moto2 Spanish Grand Prix race takes place at 12:20 PM local time on Sunday.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Ai Ogura (Kalex) 1:41.289
2. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) 1:41.299 +0.010
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:41.321 +0.032
4. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:41.369 +0.080
5. Fermin Aldeguer (Boscoscuro) 1:41.620 +0.331
9. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.901 +0.612
10. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:41.914 +0.625

#37 AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ

“It’s been a tough day, but I’m confident for tomorrow’s race. Our strategy didn’t work out in qualifying, as we tried to set our lap with the front soft tyre thinking it could give us something extra, since last year it helped us. We’re calm ahead of the contest because we’ve had a good pace over the weekend. Tomorrow we’ll try to make a good start and fight to be in the front group.”

#51 PEDRO ACOSTA

“In qualifying, our tyre choice didn’t work as we expected. We are in the Top 10 and we have a good pace for tomorrow, since we have been fast since FP3. The race will be long and hard due to the heat, but it is one of those contests for which we are best prepared. We have clear ideas for tomorrow and we will try to have a good race.”