Jaume Masia will start from second at the Thailand Grand Prix, with Dani Holgado sixth on the grid.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders took part in qualifying for the Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday, with both going into Q2.  Jaume Masia and Dani Holgado will start from second and sixth, respectively, for the Sunday race at Buriram.

The third and final free practice session was held at the Chang International Circuit in the morning, and the pair worked on consolidating their showings from Friday. Masia kept up his good feeling in a session held in the dry and improved his lap times to place fourth thanks to a late 1:42.736. Holgado suffered a crash in the opening minutes of FP3, although the team were able to work quickly to fix his bike and get him back out on track. Holgado’s best lap of 1:42.849, set on his 11th attempt of 15, earned him seventh.

In Q2, Masia faced trickier track conditions, and waited until the final stretch to set his hot lap. Initially the fastest rider, he had pole snatched from him by 2 tenths, but his 1:42.369 puts him second on the grid for the Thai Grand Prix. Holgado decided to make an early push in the session, but it was late on that he set his best time. A 1:42.740 on his closing lap of the day gave him sixth place, allowing him to start from the second row.

The 22-lap Moto3 race will take place on Sunday at 12pm local time.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Dennis Foggia (Honda) 1:42.077
2. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.369 +0.292
3. Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) 1:42.486 +0.409
4. Stefano Nepa (KTM) 1:42.531 +0.454
5. Diogo Moreira (KTM) 1:42.716 +0.639
6. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.740 +0.663

#5 JAUME MASIA

“Today we had a difficult qualifying session. I tried to set a good lap, and it brought us back to the front row of the grid. I’m happy with the result and we’ve been working hard for it. It’s important to start at the front tomorrow, I’m confident ahead of the race and we will have to see what happens, especially at the start. I hope the race will be dry, but we are prepared for any circumstances.”

#96 DANI HOLGADO

“We have had a very good feeling since FP3. It has been a great day and we have worked in the right way. We have been consistent when riding alone, although I think we could have set a better lap time. In qualifying we were fast both alone and in a group, so I am very satisfied. We are ready for the race here in Thailand.”