The former managed to beat the Buriram track record in the morning, whilst the rookie made it through to Q2 with the fastest time in Q1.

Jose Antonio Rueda and Alvaro Carpe had a very good Saturday in Buriram. The former broke all time lap record on the FP2 and earned a third place in Q2 to be on the front row of the grid, whilst the latter was quickest in Q1 and claimed sixth in Q2 for the Thailand Grand Prix.

The day started well for the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo. Rueda managed to top the timesheets in Free Practice 2 after being one of the pacesetters throughout the session. The Spaniard set a new track record with a time of 1:40.350 in the process. Carpe also took a step forward with sixth position in FP2. The rookie, with a solid time of 1:40.805, lowered his best lap from Friday by 8 tenths.

In Q1, Carpe led the session from the early stages and, with a time of 1:40.946, secured first position and a spot in Q2.

Rueda was the first to go out in the grid-defining session, but was initially unable to put together a hot lap. He then made a leap up from the third row to third place, clocking a 1:40.496 that was under a tenth of a second off Pole Position, completing a total of 23 laps throughout Saturday.

Carpe accompanied his teammate on the track and kept pace with him, securing a noteworthy sixth position and becoming the best rookie on the grid with a 1:40.665. He completed a total of 20 laps on Saturday.

In conclusion, great Saturday results for both Moto3 Red Bull KTM Ajo riders in Thailand: Rueda did not drop out of the top three, and Carpe scored two P6s, as well as the fastest time in Q1. Sunday’s 19-lap Moto3 Thai Grand Prix gets underway at 12pm local time.

Qualifying Results
1. Matteo Bertelle (KTM) 1:40.400
2. Stefano Nepa (Honda) 1:40.482 +0.082
3. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:40.496 +0.096
4. Scott Ogden (KTM) 1:40.539 +0.139
5. Luca Lunetta (Honda) 1:40.647 +0.247
6. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:40.665 +0.265

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“I’m very happy with the weekend we’re having. We’re working well for the race, which is when the points are handed out, and it will also be very hot tomorrow like today, so it’s essential to be prepared. The front row is a good result, although we were close to Pole. I would also like to thank my teammate, who helped me a little on a key lap. In short, we have felt fast during the two days so far, and today we managed to improve in more extreme conditions, so it’s time to finish things off on Sunday.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“I’m very happy with today’s performance. The team have worked very well once again and we hope to be able to maintain this both tomorrow and in the following Grands Prix. Today we were able to focus a lot on our race pace alone, so I think we’ve taken a step forward compared to yesterday. Tomorrow it will be time to give 100% in the race and enjoy it to the fullest. If we all keep pushing in the same direction we will go far, I have no doubt.”