DANIEL HOLGADO TO FIGHT FOR AUSTRIAN GLORY FROM P4, JACOB ROULSTONE WILL START IN 15TH IN SPIELBERG

The Moto3™ action resumed early on Saturday morning at the Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich with Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Daniel Holgado and Jacob Roulstone facing a final Practice 2 followed later on by the qualifying sessions. Both Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 riders qualified straight to Q2 in the morning, before they respectively got themselves a P4 and P15 on the grid, ahead of the eleventh race of 2024 that will take place on Sunday at 11:00 (GMT+2) in Styria.

Daniel Holgado got a decent start to his Austrian Grand Prix campaign on Friday and was quick to find his pace, finishing 9th of Practice 1 with a provisional Q2 place to defend on Saturday morning’s P2. Dark clouds were covering the Red Bull Ring as track action resumed, leaving a track a bit cooler than the previous day. Times did not improve for all, but eventually Dani remained in the provisional top 10 all the way long, until he clocked in a late 1’40.317 that got him the sixth time. Objective number 1: ticked. Later on, the Moto3™ boys returned on track for the pole position fight. Holgado looked strong early into the session, with a first 1’40.512 sitting him provisionally on the front row. In the final run, Holgado improved to 1’40.259, but the final shootout saw a faster front-three make it to Parc Fermé. Dani qualified in 4th, a position that should allow him to fight at the front in Sunday's race.

Jacob Roulstone continued to settle at the Red Bull Ring on his GASGAS bike, as he aimed to get all the chances for qualifying well on his side. The teamwork with Daniel Holgado was on the menu again for a while, as both GASGAS Tech3 riders worked together, and eventually the Aussie was able to improve his fastest lap to 1’40.703, one that was enough to secure his Q2 ticket with a 12th position in the combined standing. Qualifying was a bit trickier for the #12. An early lap in 1’40.962 was a good start, but the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider did not find the right way to make improvements. He qualified in P15, a position that he will look to transform into strong points on Sunday’s main show.

Grid Position: 4

Time: 1'40.259

Laps: 8

"We are extremely happy with how the day went. In Practice 2, we worked mainly on our own, the pace was strong, and it gave me confidence heading to qualifying. The feeling on the bike is great, so I am really excited to go racing, and see what we can do here in Austria. Thanks a lot to my team for their hard work!”

Grid Position: 15

Time: 1'40.962

Laps: 8

"A little bit disappointed to finish qualifying the way I did, because I felt like I had made a big step since this morning. The first exit was a bit tricky, the feeling was not quite right for me, and the strategy did not work well. We could not get a good lap, it is a shame, but we will have to focus on our race now, trying to make a good start and stick with the front group, and then we will see what can be within our reach.”

GALLERY

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