Brad faces tough qualifying day in the wet at Motegi

After a great start to the Japanese Grand Prix, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 duo worked hard in cold and wet conditions on Saturday at the Twin Ring Motegi. Brad Binder and Jorge Martin went directly into Q2 thanks to their Friday lap times, with none of the riders able to improve on their times from yesterday in FP3 due to the rain. Brad Binder will start the GP on the sixth row of the grid.

The last free practice for the Moto2 category took place in the rain, which meant track conditions were difficult. Brad made constant progress throughout the session and, with a place in Q2 already secured thanks to his time on Friday, he focused on finding a good feeling in the wet. On his last lap of 15 undertaken, the South African rider produced a 2:04.634 personal best to put him 12th.

In the afternoon the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 pair went into Q2, by which time the rain had stopped but the track surface was still wet. Brad had a tough qualifying session in which he finally finished 18th – 2:05.963 -, to put him on the sixth row.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders will start their 22-lap race tomorrow at the Japanese Grand Prix at 1:20 pm local time.

#41 BRAD BINDER
“This morning I felt quite good on the circuit in completely wet conditions. However, in the afternoon qualifying the track surface wasn’t fully wet, but it wasn’t dry either and we still don’t know why I just didn’t have feeling with the rear tyre. It was skidding all the time. It was quite difficult, as I couldn’t put the bike at the angle I wanted on cornering. We tried out the dry set-up but it was still a little too wet, though we did manage to improve our times a bit. It was a tough day, but the race is tomorrow and we will do our best.”