A typically busy set of Qualifying Practice sessions around the quick curves of the Losail International Circuit ended with Fernandez – provisional pole position holder after topping the classification on Friday – being denied 1st place on the grid by a mere eight-thousandths of a second. The nineteen-year old from Madrid managed to classify ahead of fellow KTM riders Aspar Team Gaviota’s Albert Arenas and CIP Green Power Darryn Binder. SKY Racing Team VR46’s Andrea Migno (7th) and Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Oncu – the Turk making his debut as a full-time member of the Moto3 field and for the French team’s new Moto3 effort – was 8th fastest.
The first Moto3 Grand Prix this season will commence at 14.20 tomorrow (CET) and run for 18 laps. If any of the KTM fleet take the checkered flag then this achievement will mark the firm’s 100th Grand Prix win on tarmac. In Moto2 today Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jorge Martin was less than four tenths of a second from Pole Position and will fill the 8th slot on the grid.
Raul Fernandez: “For me and for the team this is very important. I am happy with the work we did because this morning I can do the [lap] time with the hard tire. For tomorrow, for the race especially, we will use the hard because my feeling is better. Now we’ll look forward to tomorrow; maybe this bike is the best that I have tried in Moto3.”
Races: March 8th, 2020 – Moto3 14.20 | Moto2 16.00 CET
1. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Honda 2:04.815
2. Raul Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.008
3. Albert Arenas (ESP) KTM +0.110
4. Darryn Binder (RSA) KTM +0.211
1. Joe Roberts (USA) 1:58.136
2. Luca Marini (ITA) 1:58.136
3. Enea Bastianini (ITA) +0.107
8. Jorge Martin (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.396
14. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.602