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aprile 01, 2019 - KTM

Top ten breakthrough for Espargaro in Argentina

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

MotoGP 2019 Rnd 2 Circuito #termasderiohondo (ARG) - RACE
A hot and humid Gran Premio de la Republic Argentina was the setting for #redbullktm to acquire their first top ten classification of the season thanks to the efforts of #polespargaro. In the Moto3 class Jaume Masia celebrated an emotional maiden victory from Pole Position as KTM filled the first two podium places in the class.

An initially unstable weather forecast turned out to be dry, hot and sticky for the second MotoGP race of the year at the fast and twisty Circuito de #termasderiohondo. Pole Position holder Marc Marquez ran away to his first victory of 2019 but the rest of the #MotoGP pack was quite tightly grouped.
Pol Espargaro started from 11th position on the grid and battled with his brother Aleix for space on the fringe of the top ten. A last lap crash between Maverick Viñales and Franco Morbidelli meant that #44 could profit from the accident and was just denied 9th place by his elder sibling on the last lap; taking his KTM RC16 to 10th position. 
The Spaniard was chased by impressive #redbullktm Tech3 rookie #migueloliveira. The Portuguese produced a sterling performance to notch 5 championship points for 11th place in just his second outing in the premier class. #johannzarco again collected the final #MotoGP point for 15th spot while #hafizhsyahrin was not too far from the Frenchman in 16th. 
Pol Espargaro: “Satisfied for sure. We got some points and we did a good race. We were fifteen seconds away from second place and it was a faster race than last year. We are closing the gap to the top guys but still missing grip in some conditions. I fought with my brother for that ninth position at the end but couldn't make it happen. Anyway: an improvement from Qatar. The bike is getting better and I think on these tracks – Qatar, Argentina and Austin – we have been struggling in the past and we can see we are closing the gap and getting better and better. Miguel had a great race and we can see he was fast from the warm-up.” 

Johann Zarco: “I struggled all the race and nearly hit Lorenzo at the beginning which almost put me in last place. I had a good feeling in the first eight laps but could not pass my opponents and then it began to be harder and harder to ride the bike. I used a lot of energy to get in the points and was passed by two riders and in the end was lucky to get 15th position. It is difficult to have these kinds of races. At the moment I cannot ride how I want but will work to the maximum with the team to adapt to this condition. Later we will have more things to work on. Pol and Miguel had a nice race so if I can at least get close to them or be the first KTM will be some satisfaction but to get near the top we’ll need to do some other things. I want to keep as positive as possible and I know that all what we are going through now will make me stronger in the future.”

Miguel Oliveira: “I’m truly delighted about this race. It’s nice to finish in the points, which was our target coming to Argentina. In the end, it was a good weekend with a good qualifying, we improved in our time attack, I felt good with the bike, so now it’s a week to rest and to come back to Texas, which is another track we need to discover with this bike but I’m quite pleased with my performance in Argentina, second KTM, very close to Pol, so I think we are on the right way.” 

Hafizh Syahrin: “I’m very happy that we improved on our last race! Thank you very much to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team because they all kept believing in me. I was fully motivated for the race, although the beginning was difficult. I’m satisfied because I was able to stick with Johann (Zarco), although we need to work on the rear. We finished very close to the points, but still far from the top. We need to learn, be patient and keep the motivation high.“

Mike Leitner, #redbullktm Team Manager: “We know the category is very hard for each and every position and we are super-happy that Pol achieved this tenth place and also Miguel had an amazing race. Johann got into the points again: he is still not happy with the bike but we will keep on pushing to make a package where he can perform in the future. We will help him in all aspects. It was a positive weekend and we will go to Texas thinking about what we can do better. We also know that #people are working very hard in the company and we are thankful for that. We are constantly getting parts and we will push all together to get consistently inside the top ten: this is the target. We are happy with tenth today but we were almost ninth.”

Moto2 & Moto3
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder was part of an entertaining Moto2 scrap and earned a hard-won 5th position (later reverted under sanction by race officials to 6th): still a vast improvement on his 12th place from Qatar three weeks ago. Iker Lecuona passed the chequered flag in 4th. KTM triumphed in a typically close and chaotic Moto3 race. Jaume Masia launched away from his first ever Pole Position on the Bester Capital Dubai KTM to win by just a tenth of second from Darryn Binder: the South African managing his second career podium after fighting back from a grid slot of 20th. Masia was tearful on the podium for what was his very first trophy in just his second full season in Grand Prix.
MotoGP will travel north and into Texas in two weeks time for the Red Bull Grand Prix of Americas at the sweeping Circuit of the Americas near the city of Austin. Next race: April 14, Circuit of the Americas, Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas (USA) 

Further information in the press release to download

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