Red Bull KTM Factory Racing form-up on the second row for second Misano MotoGP™ 

MotoGP 2020 - Round 07, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli (San Marino, Italy)

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro and Brad Binder posted the 4th and 6th quickest lap-times in Q2 for the Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini Saturday afternoon and improved their chances for more 2020 silverware at Misano.


Espargaro and Binder set for second row of the grid for round seven of MotoGP
Iker Lecuona almost makes the step to Q2 as Oliveira recovers from FP3 crash
Raul Fernandez takes third Moto3 Pole Position. Four KTM RC4s in the top five


 
MotoGP roared into action once more for the second race at the flat and challenging Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. The Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini represented round seven of the year for the premier class and another rush at Misano only three days after the mid-season IRTA test.
 
The Red Bull KTM quartet benefitted from the extra laps and around the twisty coastal layout and Brad Binder was fastest after the two opening Free Practice sessions on Friday as Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira also took residence in the top eight. On Saturday the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo went direct to Q2 while a crash for Oliveira in FP3 was a setback that meant the Portuguese dropped into Q1.
 
Espargaro also went into the gravel in FP3 but pushed the limit in the final seconds of Q2 to make 4th place: just two tenths of a second from Pole Position and six thousandths of a second from the front row. Binder was also decisive and demonstrated remarkable progression from his efforts seven days previously. The South African was over a second faster and fully earned his berth of 6th, meaning the rookie is ten places better-off compared to the last race day at Misano. It is his best MotoGP qualification to-date.
 
Red Bull KTM Tech3 racer Iker Lecuona found a good pace in Q1 to be in contention for the cut to Q2 but was edged out in the final minutes. The 20-year old Spaniard is 13th on the grid and two spots ahead of Oliveira. Another 27 laps of hot, relentless competition begins at 14.00 CET on Sunday.
 
Pol Espargaro: “I’m very happy because it was a crazy fast lap and it was difficult to put it all together. There was a lot of risk today. In the end the fast lap came through taking chances through those left corners and I ‘sent it’ through the last sector. I did not care so much about crashing, I wanted the lap. I’m happy we got the time, but we also had an amazing performance with our rhythm in FP4 and this is what matters for tomorrow’s race.”
 
Brad Binder: “Much better. Much happier with qualifying today and to be in 6th place is fantastic. Not only is the rhythm better but also the lap-time: 1.2 seconds faster. In the second exit of FP2 we made some changes that gave me a little bit more feedback from the front tire as well as a little bit more support on the rear, so I felt stronger and it gave me the opportunity to push a bit harder. The more I pushed the better I felt, so it was good. I’m not really setting a goal on positions tomorrow. All I know is that starting in 6th position is going to be much nicer than last week. Starting in 16th was so tough. I’m happy with the steps we have made so hats-off to the boys for getting everything ready and we’ll try to have a solid race tomorrow.”
 
Iker Lecuona: “In FP3 I struggled and found it difficult to improve my lap time but finally, in FP4 we worked really well with used and harder tires, which made me truly confident for the Qualifying. I was so close to the Q2. I have to say, that I’m very happy anyway. I have a good feeling for tomorrow, we have a good pace for the race, so I’m looking forward to it.”
 
Miguel Oliveira: “It was not the best Qualifying for us. After this morning’s crash I lost a bit of feeling and I also hurt my right shoulder. In any case, we went faster than the whole weekend, so we must be happy for that. We have a hard race ahead tomorrow. We know that we are going to suffer a bit, especially because we start from behind. We can only take what we can, score the maximum amount of points possible and make a clever race. It’s a shame because we improved our speed a lot from last weekend to this one.”
 
Moto2 & Moto3
 
Raul Fernandez logged his third Moto3 Pole Position of 2020 on the Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM RC4. The young Spaniard was the first of four KTMs in the top five with Andrea Migno 3rd, Albert Arenas 4th and Celestino Vietti in 5th. Fernandez was just over half a second from lap record pace.
 
Raul Fernandez: “I am very happy to have achieved pole position today. Thanks to the work by the team, we were able to improve in the qualifying session and get the pole position. I feel satisfied, since I put in my fastest time riding alone. Tomorrow we will try to make the most of this pace and do our best to get a good result in the race.”
 
Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate, Moto2 racer Tetsuta Nagashima, was only eight hundredths of a second away from Pole Position in Moto2 and will have a slot at the top of the fifth row for the eighth race of the championship. The Japanese was 13th. Jorge Martin was still ruled out of the running in Italy due to a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by Mattia Pasini who rode well to 14th.
 
Races: September 20th, 2020 – Moto3 11.00 | Moto2 12.20 | MotoGP 14.00 CET
 
Results Qualifying MotoGP Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini 2020
 
1. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Yamaha 1:31.077
2. Jack Miller (AUS) Ducati +0.076
3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA) Yamaha +0.145
4. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM +0.231
5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +0.236
6. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM +0.312
13. Iker Lecuona (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 (Q1) 1:31.715
15. Miguel Oliveira (POR) Red Bull KTM Tech3 (Q1) 1:31.841 
 
Results Qualifying Moto2 Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini 2020
 
1. Luca Marini (ITA) 1:35.271
2. Marci Bezzecchi (ITA) +0.036
2. Xavi Vierge (ESP) +0.348
13. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.816
14. Mattia Pasini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.883
 
Results Qualifying Moto3 Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini
 
1. Raul Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo 1:41.705
2. Tony Arbolino (ITA) Honda +0.088
3. Andrea Migno (ITA) KTM +0.092
4. Albert Arenas (ESP) KTM +0.146
5. Celestino Vietti (ITA) +0.168
7. Kaito Toba (JPN) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.258
 
Contact:
Press & PR Manager
Sebastian Kuhn
+43 676 599 0084
sebastian.kuhn@ktm.com