Positive qualifiying for Smith at Argentina
Posted on Apr 08, 2017 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
The Red Bull KTM MotoGP Factory Racing Team took another step forward onboard the the KTM RC16 this weekend at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina with factory rider Bradley Smith (GBR) qualifying in nineteenth position on wet tarmac.
The team is all on a sharp learning curve with the KTM RC16 MotoGP bike as they prepare to race only their second round in the premiere class of the world championship. However Bradley Smith qualified 19th to already show an improvement on his first race in Qatar two weeks ago at the season’s opener.
Bradley Smith (Factory Rider MotoGP):
“It was a little bit tough because we went in the wrong direction with the setting. Then the rain created some problems for us at the end of FP3. During FP4 we went out in the wet for the very first time and I struggled to get the confidence I needed. So we made a big change before FP4 and I started to feel much better. Then I got faster and faster the more laps I did, so I’m pleased. We’ve got 4-5 guys behind us, which is great considering it was our first few laps in the wet. We were very close to the likes of (Jack) Miller and Jorge (Lorenzo). We know the Ducati is strong in the wet, and we also know that Miller has done a fantastic race in the rain last year. I’m pleased with the outcome. We’ll wait to see what weather we have tomorrow. It will be important to have a good start and try to learn something from the guys around us.”
Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP):
“Basically our plan for today was pretty much dictated by the weather conditions. So in FP4 we had wet conditions for the first time at a race weekend, and we worked with the best we had for a wet setting. In Bradley’s case, it was the first time he had ridden our bike in the wet anywhere. It could have been quite an unlucky situation to just do FP4 in the wet and then go straight into qualifying but honestly it worked out pretty well for both riders and we didn’t have to make too many adjustments. Depending on the weather conditions tomorrow we can either do some more fine-tuning based on that, or we can keep going with the dry settings that we developed in the other practice.”
Race:
Sunday, April 9, 2017 – Moto3 18:00 CET | Moto2 19:20 CET | MotoGP 21:00 CET
Results Qualifying MotoGP Termas de Río Hondo 2017
1. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, 1:47.512 min
2. Karel Abraham (CZE), Ducati, +0.763 sec
3. Cal Crutchlow (GBR), Honda, +0.766
4. Danilo Petrucci (ITA), Ducati, +1.396
5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Honda, +1.496
18. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +3.161
19. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +3.164