Tech3 KTM Factory Racing experienced a tricky qualifying day at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve under difficult weather conditions again. Indeed, rain and wind were awaiting the MotoGP class this morning. Therefore, Free Practice 3 started at 9:55 local time (GMT-1) with a heavy rain, but luckily as the day went by, conditions started to improve, meaning that the final free practice and the qualifying sessions took place on a drying track.

Following his best Friday to date since the start of his MotoGP career (P15 at the end of Day 1), Remy Gardner jumped back on his KTM RC16 hoping to continue the good work. During the first session of the day, he managed to improve his time from yesterday by 0.718 seconds towards the end of his first run and ended up in P18, meaning that he was on the Q1 entry list. During Free Practice 4, Remy did a run of fifteen laps to prepare his race pace. His best lap time was 1’52.866 and he was sixteenth of the session. At 14:10 for qualifying 1, the rain had stopped and the track had started to dry, which pushed the Australian to go out with slick tyres. Unfortunately, he crashed at Turn 9 in his first lap, meaning that he lost time while he went back to the pit box to get his second bike. He ended up doing four laps with a best lap time of 1’50.953. Tomorrow, he will start the Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal from P20 on row 7, and will look forward to dry conditions scheduled for the race.

Raul Fernandez started very well his Saturday as he finished FP3 in P15 with a best lap time of 1’51.902, a time obtained towards the end of the first of his three morning runs. Just like his teammate, he had to dispute qualifying 1 in order to get a good grid position for Sunday’s race. After twelve laps in FP4, Raul chose to start qualifying with wet tyres but the drying track made him come back quickly to the pit box to change bikes with slick tyres. He immediately improved (1’53.603) but unfortunately suffered a crash in his third lap after leaving the garage. He was unable to finish the session, meaning that he finished in P14, and will start the Portuguese Grand Prix from the twenty-fourth position. The Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal is scheduled at 13:00 local time, for twenty-five laps.

Remy Gardner

Grid Position: 20

Time: 1'50.953

Laps: 4

"I think that we made the right decision to go out with slick tyres today even if I ended up crashing in turn 9. The best way to learn about the tyres’ behaviour is to push and test the limits, and this is what I did today. I have had worst crashes, I will probably feel a bit sore tomorrow morning when I wake up, but I am feeling ok overall.

Tomorrow will be tough because it should be a dry day, and we have not ridden at all on the dry. I was looking forward to trying Portimao on a dry track, so we will see tomorrow at the warm up before the race."

Raul Fernandez

Grid Position: 24

Time: 1'53.603

Laps: 6

"The day started well as I did a good Free Practice 3 session. I was quite fast and had a good feeling on the bike. For qualifying, we had difficult conditions and we chose the slick tyres. I ended up making up a mistake and hurt myself a bit. I will get some rest this evening, the most important is to be fit for Sunday and try to do the race."