Sixth row for Pol Espargaro at sun-soaked Gran Premio Red Bull de España QUALIFYING 4th Rd. MotoGP 2018 – Circuito de Jerez (ESP) MotoGP Temperatures crept up after a cool start to the traditional Spanish fixture at the short, narrow and demanding Jerez circuit in Andalucía. Pol Espargaro initially turned heads with a bright 3rd place in the first Free Practice session on Friday but as the heat increased so lap-times dropped, and both the Spaniard, Bradley Smith and Mika Kallio (the Finn, in his first wildcard appearance of the year, was riding a updated version of the KTM RC16 that both #44 and #38 will test at the same track on Monday and Tuesday) could not significantly upgrade their pace. The trio tried their best to make the Q1 ‘cut’ but completed a busy afternoon of work and experimentation and settled with 16th, 19th (for Kallio) and 21st (Smith). Espargaro: “We are missing a little something and maybe with Mika’s bike on Monday and Tuesday we will find it! It feels like we are at the maximum limit of the bike at the moment. I’m happy because we gave everything but we want much more at this Red Bull Grand Prix. We are always trying to find grip but we need to improve our turning.” Smith: “We tried to do everything we could. It is a matter of seeing what we learn in the race tomorrow but also the test on Monday and where that next step can come from. We’ve even tried riding differently with someone carrying more corner speed and the other braking deeper…but the lap-time seems to be the lap-time. At this level, especially with one lap, that's where we are struggling. Hopefully the race tomorrow is more consistent and we have the chance to get some more positions. I have seen on-track where the bike handles better so we need to be more patient and try and stay in the hunt.”  Kallio: “We knew it would be really tight, and for these positions between 10-20. I’m not too satisfied but we will see what we can do in the race; and I am more confident for that long distance rather than one lap and hopefully we can do something better. We have a slightly different engine configuration compared to the factory riders and there are many positive things that I can see when I am riding. We have been improving the bike quite a lot and it is easier to ride over a long distance. At the same time there are some points where we are struggling a bit more compared to the standard bike and I think that's one reason why I couldn't do better today. It is always like that: you gain in one area and you lose in another. We need to work more and I think we’ll have some ideas for Monday.” Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP): “We started the Grand Prix with a big highlight in FP1 and this was an awesome result and pretty outstanding from what we have done so far. Although we could not maintain that level I think we are in a better position that what we held in the previous races this year in that we understand the tyres, the track and what we want. We have been making progress. Overall our status after qualification is not that bad and I hope we can improve tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how these tyres last over the race distance. We know a soft tyre will not last but it depends on how the riders handle the others. We’ll see what the race brings.”    Moto2 & Moto3 Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder sits in the middle of row two of the Moto2 grid after clocking the fifth fastest lap-time in Qualification on the KTM Moto2. The South African has great previous form at the Andaluz circuit after claiming his maiden Moto3 victory in 2016 with a last-to-first performance. In the smaller cylinder category Philipp Oettl placed his Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing KTM RC250 GP into second spot for the first race to open proceedings at 11.00 tomorrow. Binder: "Qualifying today was one of my best in Moto2 and, definitely, my best this year. I'm happy. I didn't feel very good this morning; the conditions on track were very difficult and the bike was moving around a lot. The important thing is that in the end we managed to set a good time this afternoon, maintaining the same position from the beginning to the end of the session. There is a big difference between the qualifying session we had today and the three previous ones, so I'm happy. Tomorrow I will do everything possible to fight for the podium. I hope to be calmer at the start of the race, which I will begin from the second row. It is important to be aggressive, find my line as soon as possible and push hard in order to be up with the frontrunners within the first three laps. We have worked very hard and I think we can do well."   Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Can Öncü confirmed his status as favourite for the 2018 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup with an impressive victory on the KTM RC250 RB bike in the first race of the season in Jerez. The 14-year-old Turk had to work hard for it though, only getting the better of first timer Carlos Tatay, the 14-year-old Spaniard, with two immaculate final laps. It had been an eight-man battle for the lead and only the last quarter of the sixteen laps saw Tatay and Öncü get away. Czech 16-year-old Filip Salač closed them down though and chased them home with Deniz Öncü, twin brother of Can, taking a close fourth. Öncü: “Yes that was a fun race. It was a clean race all the way, the guys were fast and we really enjoyed it. I had a great battle with Carlos and I think it will be even more fun tomorrow. I bet the pace will be quicker, the race will be tougher. I'm happy with the bike and I have to say thanks to everyone involved who gives us the chance to do this.”   Races: May 6, 2018 – Moto3 11:00 | Moto2 12:20 | MotoGP 14:00 | Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 16:30 CET Results Qualifying MotoGP Circuito de Jerez 2018  1. Cal Crutchlow (GBR), Honda, 1:37.653 min 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Honda, +0.259 sec 3. Johann Zarco (FRA), Yamaha, +0.303 4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP), Ducati, +0.316 5. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, +0.324 KTM 16. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +0.945 19. Mika Kallio (FIN), KTM, +1.106 21. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +1.308 Results Qualifying Moto2 Circuito de Jerez 2018  1. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Kalex, 1:41.925 min 2. Alex Marquez (ESP), Kalex, +0.071 sec 3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Kalex, +0.139 4. Jorge Navarro (ESP), Kalex, +0.399 5. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +0.437 KTM 8. Sam Lowes (GBR), KTM, +0.483 14. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.648 Results Qualifying Moto3 Circuito de Jerez 2018  1. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, 1:46.193 min 2. Philipp Oettl (GER), KTM, +0.153 sec 3. Fabio di Giananntonio (ITA), Honda, +0.406 4. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA), Honda, +0.421 5. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), KTM +0.546 DNF Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM (crash) Results & Standings Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Circuito de Jerez 2018 after 1 of 12 races All rider on KTM RC250 RB bikes 1. Can Öncü (TUR), 29:24.930 min, 25 points (16 laps) 2. Carlos Tatay (ESP), +0.144 sec, 20 3. Filip Salac (CZE), +1.227, 16 4. Deniz Öncü (TUR), +1.454, 13 5. Xavier Artigas (ESP), +3.967, 11 >> 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