Red Bull Rookies: Pole position goes to Kyrgyzstan as 15-year-old Yaroslav Karpushin got the best out of his KTM on his 4th lap of Qualifying at the Sachsenring.
He was almost matched on the same lap by Australian 17-year-old Carter Thompson, who was just 0.168 seconds slower.
Brian Uriarte, the 16-year-old Spaniard, had demonstrated his determination to keep his Cup challenge very much alive, hitting the top of the timing screen on lap 3 before being demoted to 3rd. Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup points leader Hakim Danish qualified 13th and Mugello double victor Veda Pratama 7th.
Yaroslav Karpushin 1st
Sporting a new short haircut, Karpushin was very pleased with his Friday. “I didn’t really expect it. I hoped that it would come one day, but it came over suddenly.”
“I just had the chance. I had a very good position in the group because I had a fast rider in front of me. I saw the opportunity to push and I used it. I’m so happy about it and it just feels different, to be honest, to sit on the pole for the first time.”
“I have a few problems with the bike setting, but I think that everybody has them and there is nothing special about it, it’s that sort of track.”
Carter Thompson 2nd
“It was a good session. The times are a lot quicker with the new tyres than I expected, compared to Free Practice, there was a big difference to the old tyres.”
“The day started off pretty hard and in FP1, I just had no feeling, but, yeah, gradually worked on it every session and now I’ve got a good feeling going into the race.”
“Second’s got a good spot for the start. I might talk to Aitor (Aitor Lafoz, Suspension engineer) and make a few little changes, just to help in some sections, but overall the bike is good now.”
Brian Uriarte 3rd
“I’m happy, we did a small change today and I have finally found the feeling with the suspension that I have been looking for all year. So I am much happier going into the race.”
“P3 is OK, all the people are very close to each other. So I guess it will be a hard fight at the front, and I think here we have a good chance. It was a new track for me and I’m feeling quite good here. The tire degradation, I think it could be a big problem for tomorrow, the race is 19 laps, so very long and we will have to be calm and wait until the end.”
David González 4th
“I think I’m going to change the bike a little,” explained the 17-year-old Spaniard. “I felt good and was fast in FP 1 and 2 with the old tyres, but with the new tyres in Qualifying it was not so good. I hope we can make the right changes because I am enjoying the track and I think in the race I’m going to fight for the victory.”
Beñat Fernandez 5th
“I had more pace and I could do better than I did,” stated the Spanish 17-year-old. “I was on a good lap but then had a big slide and a massive save that broke my fairing mount and the screen.”
“I think it was lap 4 and that damaged the aerodynamics. I couldn’t go faster after that. So, well, I’m happy to know that I could do it better and I knew that I had the speed to make the pole position. I’ve got a bit of chattering, but I think all of us have; it’s not a problem.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 1 is at 16:15 CET on Saturday and Race 2 is on Sunday at 15:30, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
For more info checkout our dedicated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup News page Rookies Cup News
Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
