Huge lift for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing at Czech GP
Posted on Aug 05, 2017 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
KTM MotoGP had a very successful test with the KTM RC16 after the last race, spending two days at Aragon with test rider Mika Kallio supporting Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith while KTM Moto2 rider Miguel Oliveira rode a MotoGP bike for the very first time. These test kilometres have been invaluable for KTM here in Brno as Espargaro was within one second of the fastest time in three of the five sessions this weekend. In Qualifying 1 Espargaro was flying with a red/red (fastest) split to put him on course for first position but a spill at the third to last corner meant he had to settle for 8th position in Q1. However, with team mate Smith just 0.008 seconds behind, the atmosphere in the garage is buoyant and positive before tomorrow's race that may well see wet weather.
Bradley Smith (Factory Rider MotoGP):
"Overall we have to be happy with our Saturday performance. Yesterday was a little bit of a struggle but certainly we found some good direction today and I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable on the bike as I've tried some new WP front forks today. I was pleased with the lap time although it would've been nice to see a (1m) 56 but that's being fussy after doing a 59.3 yesterday, so 2.5 seconds in one day is a great job by the KTM team. In terms of race day tomorrow, the tyre selection is quite clear but of course it's going to be very weather dependant; it could rain but we've ridden in all conditions here this weekend and my wet setting felt good so let's see what tomorrow brings with a mistake free race to get us to the end."
Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP):
"I would say we've had a very good weekend indeed. We found many things at the Aragon test that we wanted to confirm here and they seem very promising. Pol stayed around one second or less from the top time for most of the weekend which is a big result for us. It was a shame it didn't quite work out in the qualifying but that's racing. Tomorrow is the race. With Bradley, we struggled to get back from the summer break initially but he got there today getting closer and closer with qualifying being the best session for him this weekend. Overall I'm very positive technically as this has been a good result for us at this track as when we came here testing last year it was not with 2017 tyres, while the test we had here earlier this year saw slower lap times...but we were on our own in much cooler conditions so we cannot compare things directly to today. What I can say is that's the fastest KTM to ever lap Brno."
Races: August 6, 2017 – Moto3 11:00 | Moto2 12:20 CET | Moto2 14:00 | Red Bull Rookies Cup 15:30