Red Bull KTM Ajo rider achieves fourth best time in qualifying session for the Aragon Grand Prix, after showing excellent pace. Hanika will start from the sixth row tomorrow.

Jack Miller will start tomorrow’s Aragon Grand Prix from fourth place, on the second row of the grid. The Australian was only 0.158s off pole position in a close qualifying session on Saturday. His Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Karel Hanika took a significant step forward compared to yesterday, getting on the pace and finally claiming seventeenth position. That gives him a sixth row start at MotorLand Aragon.

Five consecutive laps in the 1:58 range were set by Jack Miller in the final practice session of the weekend. This excellent pace gives him confidence ahead of tomorrow’s race. The Australian, with a best time of 1:58.704, was fourth and lowered his best time from yesterday. Likewise, Karel Hanika rode quicker than on Friday, going round in under 2:00 for the first time with a 1:59.242 for fourteenth.

In the qualifying session the lap times were closer than ever, with ten riders separated by just half a second. The two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders took their best times on their penultimate laps, as Miller claimed fourth thanks to 1:58.476 best. Hanika, seventeenth with a 1:59.314 top lap, was left lamenting an error on his final attempt.

The fourteenth Moto3 race of the year starts tomorrow at 11:00am. It will be the last encounter before the start of the flyaway rounds.

Results – QP
1. Alex Rins (Honda) 1:58.318
2. Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) 1:58.434 +0.116
3. Juanfran Guevara (Kalex KTM) 1:58.470 +0.152
4. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:58.476 +0.158
5. Alex Marquez (Honda) 1:58.510 +0.192
17. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.314 +0.996

Jack Miller >> Audio (solely for radio use)

“We’re happy with how everything has gone. To be honest, this is one of the best weekends we’ve had this year. We changed the strategy from other Grands Prix, mostly focusing on getting a good pace for the race. From there we tried to go lap-by-lap and find the best setup for tomorrow. The times were pretty fast and consistent, so we’re happy about that.

In the race I’m sure there will be a great battle, but I feel ready. I’m braking comfortably and where I want, and the feedback from the tyres is very good. I can’t wait for the race to start. We head the second row and are happy with that. We’ll have to push a little at the beginning of the race and see how we feel. It will be a tough race, but hopefully we will get a good result.”

Karel Hanika >> Audio (solely for radio use)

“The bike worked well. We found a good setup this morning and the times have also been better. In the qualifying session it was very hot and we suffered a lot with the tyres, because they wore down after just a couple of laps. On the last lap I was riding pretty fast and thought I could get into the top 10, but the bike slipped out on the last corner and I finished down in 17th place. It’s a shame that this happened, but we have the pace. I rode many laps in the 1:59s, and that’s good for tomorrow. It was not the best qualifying session, but I’m anxious to get out there for the race.

If it rains during the race it will not be too big a problem. We showed in Misano we have good pace in the wet as well. We’ll have to go carefully on this track, however.”