KTM's riders in the 125 cc category launched the weekend's GP racing at Assen, Netherlands confidently in qualifying ahead of Saturday's race at the Dutch circuit.
Raffaele de Rosa (Onde 2000 KTM) clocked seventh fastest, Randy Krummenacher (Red Bull KTM) in eleventh and Esteve Rabat (Repsol KTM) in fifteenth place, positions that remained unchanged on the second day of practice due to adverse weather conditions. Rabat's 15-year-old team-mate Marc Marquez, who had made history one week ago as the youngest Spanish rider ever on a Grand Prix podium, was one of the very few riders in this class to improve on his previous best time in final practice, and now holds eighteenth place on the grid.
Raffaele de Rosa (Onde 2000 KTM 125 - seventh in 1:46.105)
"My only problem was the wind this afternoon. Other than that, everything is really good. The new chassis worked very well in England one week ago and it behaves fantastically on this track as well. Yesterday, I was a little down on acceleration, but we managed to solve this problem, so I'm really looking forward to the race!"
Randy Krummenacher (Red Bull KTM 125 - eleventh in 1:46.396)
"Today's practice started really well for me and I held the lead for the first 17 minutes. Then I pulled in for a change on the rear suspension set-up because it was so windy. When I went back out and wanted to attack on my first flying lap after the pit stop, I lost the front braking into one of the corners. I think the wind and our set-up change contributed to the fact that I didn't have enough load on the front end, and it eventually tucked away. The bike was destroyed, but I was okay and I'm now really confident for tomorrow. My aim is to get a good start and to try to hang on to the leading group!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director)
"We got positive feedback from all our riders again in the 125 cc category and I think we can expect a close race with good results for us. I don't think that the Assen track is too difficult to learn, and to hang on to even faster riders in the slipstream. This should help our young riders like Marc Marquez who did so well last week in England, but who has a tough job adjusting to new tracks wherever we go!"
Images by Kirn F.
