Qualifying CatalanGP: Promising race pace for Espargaro, crash and injury for Smith QUALIFYING 7th Rd. MotoGP 2017 – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (ESP) MotoGP With two new chassis available to both Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro at the Circuit de Catalunya, technical progress has been made today in scorching conditions where the ground temperature was again high for the second weekend on the bounce at 50 degrees celsius. Qualifying in 20th, Espargaro had some turning problems in some corners but made great progress during FP4 when he ran the KTM RC16 bike with a race set up in preparation for tomorrow. It was an unlucky afternoon for Smith who had a high side at turn 2, the bike landing on his left little finger necessitating a visit to hospital first here at the track and then in Barcelona with specialist surgeon Dr. Mir to see what the true extent of the damage is before seeing if he is able to ride tomorrow in the race. Espargaro: "We have improved a lot from yesterday; one second. Overall the bike feels much better even if we are missing some strengths in turning into the corners. Tomorrow we're not quite which front tyre to use; the hard or the medium because with one we have one problem and with another we have another problem, but the guys are working so hard with the new chassis that has improved the whole package. We are all pushing for the good results, but those results don't come overnight but on the flip side we are working hard for the race and through the Monday and Tuesday test. Here at 'home' there is more pressure but I think the pressure helps a rider do a better result and today it's my birthday so it's a good compromise!" Tom Jojic (Crew Chief Bradley Smith): "We tried a whole bunch of big things to try to get on top of our main problems. He started to feel positive and better so in FP4 we went with the harder tyres trying to understand what's going to happen in the race and he felt a bit better than FP3 so that was good. Unfortunately Bradley high sided through Turn 2 and his left hand was trapped under the handle bar and he's got a damaged little finger on his left hand – the one that's damaged already. In the medical centre they cleaned it and gave it an X-Ray but they want to clean it properly so they've asked him to go to a hospital in Barcelona where they will clean it and then decide what the best course of action for tomorrow is from there." Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP): "Today we saw some good moments such as during FP4 looking at the race pace we seem to be good with the lap time – not so far away in Pol's case. With Bradley we struggled to find a rhythm for different reasons but then he crashed and now he's injured, so it was anything but smooth. For the race pace tomorrow it will not be the same at the beginning than at the end and what we can achieve looks promising as we believe we can catch up more as the race goes on. It's a different game you play on Sunday." Moto2 After some aerodynamic tweaks to his KTM Moto2 bike at Mugello last weekend, Portugal's Miguel Oliveira sped to the front of the third row today with team mate Brad Binder just 0.8 seconds back as he rebuilds his strength in his left forearm after surgery. In a class that seems to get closer and closer in lap time, less than two seconds covered the top 27 riders. Oliveira: "Today we have made improvements. At the end of qualifying, on the last stint, we were able to improve our time and finish in seventh position. We still have doubts about which tyres are best for us, although it seems that many riders are in the same situation as us. Tomorrow we will try to get a good start and be as far forward as we can. We expect a hot day. It will be a difficult race, but we will do our best." Binder: "This weekend is much tougher than last weekend, since my left elbow hurts a lot. In addition, I'm also having difficulty finding a good feeling with the bike, especially under braking, as I lack some strength when I enter lefthanders. But I'm happy, because little by little we are improving. I like the new chicane a little more, because it is more normal compared to the layout used yesterday. Tomorrow we are going to have a difficult race, because it's going to be very hot and that means less traction. Making another comeback like Mugello will be tough, but I'll stay focused, try to do my job and see how far we can go." Moto3 Spain's Juanfran Guevara equalled his best ever qualifying position with third today aboard his KTM RC250 GP as Spaniards locked out the entire front row for the small class. Following a record breaking Moto3 race last weekend – the closest 15 in the 69 year history of Grand Prix racing – the class continues to draw in TV viewers across the globe. For the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad, Niccolo Antonelli was 10th and Bo Bendsneyder 15th, the pair of them split by 0.14 seconds, the Italian keen to point out that he believes his race pace better than his starting position. Guevara: "It was a positive day. We did a great job: Friday was a complicated day, we didn’t manage to find a competitive set-up to start the weekend. Today we changed quite a bit the setting of my KTM machine and we analysed all the data from yesterday: I had a great feeling on my bike since the beginning of the FP3. After the last change of tyre I had a crash, but we could take part in the qualifying with full strength. On the second run we set a very fast lap, which gave us the chance to stay in the front. At the end of the session there was plenty of traffic out on track and just few guys managed to improve their time. Eventually we scored another first row, an important result for the team in the circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya. We also confirmed that we are in good shape, even though we are aware that tomorrow is the day that actually matters. In the warm-up we’ll focus on the pace and we’ll see what happens in the race: the temperatures are really high and it won’t be easy to stay in the front." Antonelli: "I think today's qualifying does not reflect how fast we were throughout the day. It's a shame because we did a very good job, putting a good pace, but in qualifying we were not able to set our best lap. Tenth place is not a bad place to start from tomorrow. The new chicane modification has not changed things much, it just means that it is a little longer than yesterday. Tomorrow I expect a race with a lead group of around ten riders. I hope to be one of those and get into the fight for the podium at the end." Races: June 10, 2017 – Moto3 11:00 | Moto2 12:20 | MotoGP 14:00 CET Results Qualifying MotoGP Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 2017 1. Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Honda, 1:43.870 min 2. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP), Ducati, +0.331 sec 3. Danilo Petrucci, (ITA), Ducati, +0.350 4. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, +0.450 5. Aleix Espargaro (ESP), Aprila, +0.478 KTM 20. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +2.017 23. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +2.983 (time from FP3, DNS QP due to crash in FP4) Results Qualifying Moto2 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 2017 1. Alex Marquez (ESP), Kalex, 1:49.408 min 2. Mattia Pasini (ITA), Kalex, +0.107 sec 3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Kalex, +0.644 4. Takaaki Nakagami (JAP), Kalex, +0.793 5. Thomas Luethi (SUI), Kalex, +0.798 KTM 7. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.868 21. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +1.689 Results Qualifying Moto3 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 2017 1. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, 1:53.368 min 2. Aron Canet (ESP), Honda, +0.627 3. Juanfran Guevara (ESP), KTM, +0.659 4. Romano Fenati (ITA), Honda, +0.663 5. Joan Mir (ESP), Honda, +0.668 KTM 6. Marcos Ramirez (ESP), KTM, +0.758 10. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA), KTM, +0.963 15. Bo Bendsneyder (NED), KTM, +1.106 PHILIPP GRÜNBERGER PR MANAGER MOTOGP philipp.gruenberger@ktm.com 0043 664 6217921 www.motogp.com www.ktm.com | media.ktm.com  Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram