In the middle of the Qatari desert, the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 duo consisting of Darryn Binder and rookie Senna Agius fought for every thousandth of a second on the first two days of practice. The South African finished qualifying in eleventh place in Q2.

There was a flurry of activity in the second Moto2 qualifying session after P1 was affected on Friday afternoon. Hard to believe, but the first timed practice session was affected by the sudden onset of rain on the 5.38 kilometer Losail International Circuit, which is why the Intact GP duo decided not to set a time and thus take any unnecessary risks.

For Darryn, who is completing his second year with the German racing team, his ninth place in P2 was enough to take him straight through to Qualifying 2. The 26-year-old is gaining confidence in his Kalex and the new Pirelli tyres with every lap. Confident that he will be able to make further progress in the race, the South African is looking positively towards the first race of the season, which will be contested on Sunday at 16:15 (CET).

Darryn Binder
P11 (Q2) – 1’57.584 (+0.796)

“I’m really happy with qualifying today. P11 on the grid is a good position. It’s been a difficult start to the year with not too much testing and I struggled a bit at the official test in Jerez last week. Then, arriving here in Qatar I missed some extra track time because of the rain last night, but today I made a really big step. I feel like I have a good pace and overall, I am happy with how we have worked so far this weekend. I feel like we’re moving in the right direction, I’m understanding the Pirelli tyres better and better and more and more I’m gaining confidence back. I’m really happy with how things are going and it’s going to be a long, interesting race tomorrow. I’m super excited to start the new season now.”