Red Bull KTM takes best ever qualifying position in MotoGP with 6th at Phillip Island QUALIFYING 16th Rd. MotoGP 2017 – Phillip Island (AUS) MotoGP The Phillip Island racetrack in Australia saw the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing squad take their best qualifying position so far in MotoGP when Pol Espargaro sped to 6th position and a second row start. The sinuous, flowing ribbon of tarmac that makes up the 4.4km ocean-side circuit is often called one of the best circuits to race a Grand Prix motorcycle at, meaning the result has extra meaning for the Austrian manufacturer in its first season of MotoGP. Team mate Bradley Smith on the sister KTM RC16 sped his way through Q1 to advance into Q2 for the first time in dry conditions, but his focus and drive meant that he progressed to his second top ten grid slot in two races with a tenacious ninth. Both KTMs headed the top speed charts in final qualifying with 340 and 338kph (211 and 210mph) respectively. Following on from a two day test after the Aragon MotoGP, this weekend has been the first time the KTM crew have had to confirm their engineering settings in the dry as last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix was wet throughout all three days. Espargaro: “Awesome! It has been the best two days here and arguably some of the best two days of the season. We were in the top ten through every free practice and for two of them inside the top five so it was a huge boost of confidence. I was enjoying riding the bike as it felt natural, pure and good especially on this track even with the wind that can make changing direction a little tricky. All this stuff makes it incredibly difficult but the bike has taken it brilliantly, plus I’m happy with my riding too. We are all doing a good job in the team; all the guys in the factory are developing a good bike so we should all feel proud of today as we can see the results of last month’s Aragon test here today.”   Smith: “Today was a great day for the KTM team. It started with some rain this morning but I got through Q1 into Q2 and I was making improvements step by step. The team did a fabulous job and we are especially happy as that’s our first advance into Q2 in the dry rather than the wet of Le Mans, Sachsenring or Japan. Now we’re going to work on some data and look forward to the race around this glorious race track.”   Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP): “Finally we were back in the dry this weekend and what we see on one hand is 120% commitment from both riders at a riders’ track and on the other it is the results of our post Aragon GP test from which we’ve made some more technical changes on the bike. Motegi last weekend was all wet and now we see in the dry how the bike is and it seems we’ve made a good step forward. Sure, this is on one track but Phillip Island is special in itself as you need confidence with the bike to go through a lap essentially with one straight.” Moto2 Both Red Bull Ajo KTMs have also had a fantastic day qualifying third and fourth at Phillip Island, a race track they’d never been with the KTM Moto2 to until yesterday. Miguel Oliveira was third, just 0.122 secs back of pole position even though his fastest lap was compromised by slower riders in the way, but it was Brad Binder who stormed through to his best qualifying of the year making him look forward to tomorrow’s race more than any other so far this season. Last year here Binder won the Moto3 race while Oliveira won in 2015, the pair of them on KTMs. Oliveira: "It was a bit of a strange qualifying session. It immediately started to rain when we went out on track for the first time, and we had to begin a little later than we had planned. In the end everything went well, I feel good on the bike and am comfortable. It was a little disappointing because I felt I had something more in reserve and could have done a little better, but I encountered a lot of riders ahead of me who prevented me from going for a better position. It's a shame not to have been able to set a higher pace, but for tomorrow I'm confident we’ll get a good result." Binder: "I definitely could not have asked for a better qualifying session. I was planning to improve my 20th position and being able to go up to fourth is a big step. I am very happy and I’ve felt very good all weekend so far. I want to thank the team, as the bike is working incredibly well. I have felt very comfortable, right from the first lap, all around the track. I can’t wait to race tomorrow, I think I have a great opportunity to fight with the riders at the front. It’s a very good feeling to know that our hard work is bearing fruit, little by little. Tomorrow in the race I will give it my all once again. I have nothing to lose, so if on the last few laps I see the possibility of going forward by taking risks, I can afford to take them."   Moto3 KTM will start from the front row for tomorrow’s Australian Moto3 race as Gabriel Rodrigo took his fourth front row start of the year. Backing up the speed of his KTM RC250 GP was his team mate Juanfran Geuvara who heads the second row of the grid. Red Bull Ajo’s Niccolo Antonelli was just a tantalising second back of pole in fifteenth place with his team mate Bo Bendsneyder in nineteenth. Rodrigo: “Today we had a great day. After some difficult Grand Prix events, we are back to the front row with a very strong pace, which is what matters the most. It wasn’t just one hot lap. I’m happy, on top of that Juanfran got a solid result, too, and if we help each other, I believe we can put in a good race. For the first time even rain was on our side, it stopped right before the practice and it didn’t come back till the end. Even if our objective was to keep the pole position, there was a chance we could have lost the front row, so overall I’m happy. We’ll see if tomorrow we can have a dry race, because under the rain you never know what can happen, whereas in these conditions we are strong. I hope the weather will help us out, we’ll improve some details in the warm up in order to fight for a good race.”   Antonelli: "Qualifying did not go well. We aren't happy, because we could have done better with the bike we have. At this track everyone attacks, and any rider can get into the Top 6. I was riding alone and pushing, and it is not easy when you're going for the Top 5. I really feel good with the bike and that's what matters for tomorrow. We know we can be up at the front in the race." Races: October 22, 2017 – Moto3 13:00 | Moto2 14:20 CET | MotoGP 16:00 Results Qualifying MotoGP Phillip Island 2017  1. Marc Marcquez (ESP), Honda, 1:28.386 min 2. Maverick Vinales (ESP), Yamaha, +0.333 sec 3. Johann Zarco (FRA), Yamaha, +0.358 4. Andrea Iannone (ITA), Suzuki, +0.551 5. Jack Miller (AUS), Honda, +0.578   6. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +0.644 9. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +0.935 Results Qualifying Moto2 Phillip Island 2017 1. Mattia Pasini (ITA), Kalex, 1:33.300 min 2. Marcel Schroetter (GER), Suter, +0.008 sec 3. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.122 4. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +0.153 5. Franco Morbidelli (ITA), Kalex, +0.195 Results Qualifying Moto3 Phillip Island 2017 1. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, 1:37.030 min 2. Gabriel Rodrigo (ESP), KTM, +0.218 sec 3. Joan Mir (ESP), Honda, +0.381 4. Juanfran Guevara (ESP), KTM, +0.514 5. Romano Fenati (ITA), KTM, +0.650 KTM 15. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA), KTM, +1.059 19. Bo Bendsneyder (NED), KTM, +1.263 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