Miguel Oliveira claims 1st 2015 pole in Argentina

Miguel Oliveira and Red Bull KTM Ajo took their first pole position of the season at Round 3 in Argentina. The Portuguese set a superb last lap of 1:48.461 in the qualifying session, for his second career pole. His previous qualifying top spot came at the 2013 Dutch TT.

Oliveira started the day strongly, heading the timesheets after improving his fastest time from yesterday with a 1:49.430. The Portuguese dominated much of the session, also setting a great pace when riding alone. Always close behind was teammate Karel Hanika, who finished the session with the eighth fastest time of 1:49.753. Meanwhile, Brad Binder, twelfth, also improved on his best lap from yesterday by clocking a 1:49.941.

As usual in the timed session, nothing was decided until the final five minutes. Oliveira was the rider who played his cards best on his last lap, pushing harder than ever and taking advantage of groups of riders bunched together to usurp Danny Kent, setting new pole and circuit records of 1:48.461 in the process.

With this result, the Red Bull KTM Ajo team have two pole positions from as many visits to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, after their success at the track last year. The Moto3 Red Bull Grand Prix of Argentina begins at 1pm local time on Sunday.

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“The qualifying session was a bit strange. At first I was not as fast as I would have liked; I found it hard to set a good pace and a good one-off lap. In the last run I tried to take advantage of a slipstream and go for pole position. It may not be the nicest way to get pole, but I’m very happy for the team. It’s a little reward that I think we deserve after work we have been doing. However, the greatest reward will be getting points tomorrow.”

Source: Ajo