Portimao Moto2 test: Red Bull KTM reign again with impressive new duo

Red Bull KTM Ajo riders at the top of the Moto2 standings became a regular sight in 2021 and one that appears to be continuing for the new season.

The age old saying ‘first you have to beat your teammate’ has never been more apt than for Aki Ajo’s squad in recent years. Despite two new riders in the Moto2 garage for 2022, as Augusto Fernandez moves across from Marc VDS and Moto3 Champion Pedro Acosta steps up, the orange machines were in control once again as preseason preparations concluded at Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit.

Three days of official testing concluded with Acosta maintaining his ‘rookie sensation’ monicker after stepping up to the intermediate class from a dominating first and only year in Moto3 and immediately setting a new all-time lap record. Completing eight sessions on the Ajo KTM, Acosta sat at the top of the times thanks to Monday morning’s 1’41.552 best effort, and having navigated 133 laps of the 4.6kms layout, called time on his winter programme with a session to go.

Fernandez sat second in the overall standings, just 0.154s separating him from his new teammate - the pair so in sync that they came into the team running the same number, 37, with Acosta opting for 51 for the season ahead. The 24-year-old’s 1’41.706, set on his 16th of 25 midday laps topped the final day’s second session but it was not quite enough to topple his closest rival. Fernandez too chose not to run in the late afternoon session, having dispatched 142 laps across the weekend.

“We have been able to try out many things during this test, which was the key to being clear about things when we get to Qatar,” Acosta confirmed from the Algarve on Monday evening. “We wanted to know what works and what we have to work on