Three Red Bull KTMs make Teruel Grand Prix Q2 with Oliveira 8th on the grid

MotoGP 2020 - Round 12, Teruel (Spain)

Red Bull KTM will enter the grid with three riders in the first eleven positions for what will be the second Grand Prix in a row at the technical MotorLand circuit in Aragón, Spain. The Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel will bring the series up to round twelve of fifteen.


Miguel Oliveira heads the Red Bull KTM quartet with 8th position in Q2
Two KTM RC16s on the third row with Pol Espargaro in 9th, Iker Lecuona makes Q2 debut
Consecutive Moto3 Pole Positions and fifth of 2020 for Raul Fernandez

More sunshine and warmer temperatures welcomed MotoGP back to MotorLand Aragón and where Free Practice sessions and qualification on Friday and Saturday were less complicated compared to the cold conditions the previous week. Finding the best balance between effective grip and consideration of tire wear for Sunday’s race was the main job for both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing as well as the Red Bull KTM Tech3 crew.
 
Iker Lecuona showed promising speed through Free Practice with the 7th and 6th fastest lap-times when it counted to maiden his first appearance in Q2. Teammate Miguel Oliveira also produced a lap in FP3 to give Red Bull KTM Tech3 two riders in the Q2 dash for positions on the front half of the grid. Pol Espargaro completed FP4 in 4th place – the highest ranked KTM rider from the two days and with a positive indication for his race pace – and then made the cut from Q1 to Q2 with the quickest lap of MotorLand at that point. Brad Binder was so close to moving through but missed out by three tenths of a second and will start Sunday’s race from 15th.
 
Q2 saw all three riders go on the attack but it was Oliveira who lead the Red Bull KTM trio with the 8th best chrono and was only one-hundredth of a second faster than Espargaro. For the Portuguese it marked a big improvement of at least ten positions over last Saturday. Lecuona was only a tenth of a second away in 11th in a session that saw 12 riders split by 0.7. It was the Spaniard’s best qualification of the season so far.
 
Moto3 opens raceday on Sunday with the timing of 11.20 followed by MotoGP at 13.00 and then Moto2 at 14.30 CET.
 
Miguel Oliveira: “I’m happy about Qualifying, it’s a nice come back. We managed to go to Q2 several times, but finished just in P12, which means we couldn’t take the maximum out of the position. But now I feel like we gained a little bit of speed back, I feel competitive and tomorrow we can have a good race. I think we have a strong pace and we can manage the tires much better than last weekend, so we have a good opportunity to score decent points.”
 
Pol Espargaro: “We did a good job today. The morning didn’t go so well and it was where we lost our options to go straight to Q2. I didn’t want to use the race tire so I had to do everything in Q1. I was happy because we turned things around in FP4 and the lap-time in Q1 would have put us on the front row. Overall, we not far away from first place so I’m happy.”
 
Iker Lecuona: “I’m really happy about today! It was the first time in Q2 for me and the lap time I did in FP3 was great. I have a very good pace for tomorrow’s race and I know it’s possible to stay in this position in order to fight for the top 10 again. I have to admit, I was not absolutely satisfied about my Qualifying because I think I could have been gone a bit faster. Anyway, I’m all focused for the race and hope I can stay inside the top 10.”
 
Brad Binder: “It was a lot easier for me to put down consistent laps, which is good for the race tomorrow. I feel like I am lacking a little bit of straight-up one-lap pace and it was difficult today because I was missing a tenth of a second here and there and it is so tight out there at the moment. Any steps we can make for tomorrow will give us a small advantage going into the race. In general, I think we are much better prepared than we were last week.” 
 
Moto2 & Moto3
 
Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM’s Raul Fernandez guided his KTM RC4 to a second Pole Position in a row at MotorLand with a lap 0.5 faster than his effort last Saturday. The recently-turned 20-year old was a clear two tenths of a second faster than Tony Arbolino and heads fellow KTM rider SKY Racing Team VR46’s Celestino Vietti, who is also on the front row. Championship leader Albert Arenas was 5th fastest in Q2 and Red Bull KTM Tech3’ Ayumu Sasaki qualified well in 6th.
 
Raul Fernandez: “I'm happy to achieve our fifth pole position of the year. It's incredible! I want to thank the team and my family. Without their help, I couldn't have set such a good time - especially riding alone. Once again, my crew worked very well. This is a special weekend for me, since yesterday was my birthday, so we will try to finish the occasion off tomorrow with a great result."
 
In Moto2 Jorge Martin carried his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine to 12th in Q2, seven tenths of a second from the pole setter while teammate Tetsuta Nagashima took 25th.
 
The 2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup ran for the second time at MotorLand for what was round seven of the contest. Pedro Acosta defended an unbeaten run of form coming into the race and the young Spaniard was only narrowly beaten by countryman Ivan Ortolá on Saturday afternoon.
 
Races: October 25th, 2020 – Moto3 11.20 | MotoGP 13.00 | Moto2 14.30 CET
 
Results Qualifying MotoGP Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel
 
1. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN) Honda 1:46.882
2. Franco Morbidelli (ITA) Yamaha +0.063
3. Alex Rins (ESP) Suzuki +0.273
4. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Yamaha +0.359
5. Johann Zarco (FRA) Ducati +0.415
8. Miguel Oliveira (POR) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.627
9. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.637
11. Iker Lecuona (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.739
15. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Q1) 1:47.478
 
Results Qualifying Moto2 Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel
 
1. Sam Lowes (GBR) 1:51.296
2. Jorge Navarro (ESP) +0.216
3. Remy Gardner (AUS) +0.415
12. Jorge Martin (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.694
25. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN) Red Bull KTM Ajo (Q1) 1:52.618
 
Results Qualifying Moto3 Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel
 
1. Raul Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo 1:57.199 
2. Tony Arbolino (ITA) Honda +0.231
3. Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM +0.345
 
Contact:
Press & PR Manager
Sebastian Kuhn
+43 676 599 0084
sebastian.kuhn@ktm.com