Red Bull KTM to tussle for maximum race points after slippery Argentina Qualification QUALIFYING 2nd Rd. MotoGP 2018 – Termas de Río Hondo (ARG) MotoGP After a long haul from Europe the majority of the paddock encountered a warm but unstable climate at the circuit over 1000km northwest from Buenos Aires. The KTM duo hovered around the top fifteen in the first Free Practice sessions, and FP3 Saturday morning was a tricky blend of wet and dry conditions with occasional light showers and humidity. Pol Espargaro posted a hot lap towards the end of the period to place a decent 7th and just 1.3 seconds from the fastest effort by world champion Marc Marquez.   Through FP4 and Q1 #44 and #38 maintained their push for drive and traction to harness all the power of the works KTM RC16. Espargaro encountered a technical hitch in FP4 that forced the Spaniard to use his second racebike for the beginning of Q1 and he couldn't quite grasp the extra tenths of a second to slide into the top bracket as a damp track quickly began to try. Bradley Smith, who was content with his set-up on the RC16, was caught out by the varying track surface. Espargaro: "It was a crazy day for us. I think it started quite well in the morning with P7 in mixed conditions and I was quite optimistic for qualifying but finally, similar to Qatar, we had an issue in FP4 and had to solve that. We didn't have our No.1 bike ready for the first run and mechanics did an amazing job to have it ready for the second but we’d used our good front tyre already. We had to use the soft front and eventually finished one second away from my brother. It’s a shame because we did very well this morning and I hope we’d be closer to the top guys and go for Q2 but it was difficult. We hope for better luck for tomorrow.”   Smith: “A frustrating day. I felt that we did a very good job in trying to improve the bike and find some grip but I made the wrong call by staying out on the track and I did not expect it to dry as fast as it did. I overheated the tyre and by the time I looked to come in (to the pits) there were four minutes left so I had to suck-it-and-see. We didn't try the soft tyre in practice and it might have worked today. Overall a few small frustrating things but in general I’m feeling happy with the bike and I’m happy, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. We have some ideas, whether it will be wet or dry, but I think the track will be difficult for everyone.”  Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP): “We’ve had some ups-and-downs so far this weekend. In FP1 we were where we expected to be; around a second away from the top. In FP2 the conditions were difficult and maybe we didn't change the bike around enough. FP3 – and today generally – we had to be a bit more radical in how we adapted but the plan disappeared when it started raining and we had to start from zero. We made some good steps on the bike after FP3 and felt we had a good package but everybody has the feeling that in FP4 and Qualifying we did not get everything out of the bike and that package, so from that point of a view we are a bit disappointed. Some technical difficulties also disrupted our rhythm but we were able to react. The result is not a disaster and I think we are stronger than how we look at the moment.”   Moto2 & Moto3 Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira classified seventh on his KTM Moto2 (just behind Sam Lowes) after registering lap-times to place in the top three of every single FP session until a wet Qualifying Practice. Teammate Brad Binder will launch from 16th. In Moto3 Marco Bezzecchi and Gabriel Rodrigo will fill the two places on the front row behind on their KTM RC250 GP bike and pole holder Tony Arbolino, Darryn Binder will start the Moto3 race tomorrow from 25th postition. Oliveira: "It was a bit of a strange qualifying session, because it wasn't raining at the start – and then it rained only at certain points of the track. To tell the truth, when it was raining more intensely I didn't feel completely comfortable on the bike, and that meant that I couldn't improve my time. We're starting from seventh, which isn't bad at all, but we'd like to be further forward on the grid. We will have to have some good opening laps and regain as many positions as possible, in order to latch onto the frontrunners."   Races: April 8, 2018 – Moto3 17:00 | Moto2 18:20 | MotoGP 20:00 CET Results Qualifying MotoGP Termas de Río Hondo 2018  1. Jack Miller (AUS), Ducati, 1:47.153 min 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Honda, +0.177 sec 3. Johann Zarco (FRA), Yamaha, +0.212 4. Tito Rabat (ESP), Ducati, +0.528 5. Alex Rins (ESP), Suzuki, +0.590 KTM 16. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +3.171 21. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +3.854 Results Qualifying Moto2 Termas de Río Hondo 2018  1. Xavi Vierge (FRA), Kalex, 1:56.137 min 2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Kalex, +0.271 sec 3. Danny Kent (GBR), Speed Up, +0.399 4. Mattia Pasini (ITA), Kalex, +0.454 5. Jorge Navarro (ESP), Kalex, +0.542 KTM 6. Sam Lowes (GBR), KTM, +0.693 7. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.869 16. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +1.761 Results Qualifying Moto3 Termas de Río Hondo 2018  1. Tony Arbolino (ITA), Honda, 1:53.782 min 2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), KTM, +0.306 sec 3. Gabriel Rodrigo (ARG), KTM, +0.548 4. Adam Norrodin (MAL), Honda, +0.564 5. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Honda, +0.579 KTM 10. Andrea Migno (ITA), KTM, +0.780 25. Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM, +2.551  >> LINK MOTOGP PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRRAY >> LINK MOTO2 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY >> LINK MOTO3 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY 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