It was not an easy qualification in Austria for Bo Bendsneyder and Steven Odendaal. The riders of NTS RW Racing GP start the Moto2 race on Sunday from 23rd and 28th place respectively. Yet they both see opportunities for points on the challenging Red Bull Ring. The goal was to reach Q2, but it just didn’t work. Bendsneyder finished ninth in Q1, Odendaal became fourteenth. Even today the differences were very small. For example, in FP3 26 riders were in the same second. It wasn’t much different in qualifying. Bendsneyder’s 1.29.632, which earned him 23rd place, was 0.9 away from the time with which Tetsuta Nagashima grabbed his first pole position. On the eighth row the Dutchman is joined by Jonas Folger and Sam Lowes – not the least either.
Bo Bendsneyder: “It is a shame that we could not move on to Q2. Unfortunately we just couldn’t make the improvement as the others did. In terms of setup I have a good feeling and I also think that I have a constant, good pace over a race distance. The goal is and remains to grab points and I do see opportunities for that. It looks like there’s a chance of rain tomorrow morning. Here in the mountains we just have to wait and see what the weather does.”
Results Q1 & Q2 combined:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’28.718 |
| 2 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’28.791 |
| 3 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’28.856 |
| 4 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’28.903 |
| 5 | Thomas LUTHI | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’28.924 |
| 6 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’28.948 |
| 7 | Xavi VIERGE | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’28.956 |
| 8 | Jorge NAVARRO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 1’28.969 |
| 9 | Remy GARDNER | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’28.976 |
| 10 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’29.004 |
| 11 | Alex MARQUEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’29.012 |
| 12 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’29.061 |
| 13 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’29.067 |
| 14 | Iker LECUONA | American Racing KTM | 1’29.092 |
| 15 | Mattia PASINI | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | 1’29.118 |
| 16 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’29.437 |
| 17 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’29.538 |
| 18 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 1’29.682 |
| 19 | Nicolo BULEGA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’29.410 |
| 20 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | 1’29.549 |
| 21 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | 1’29.560 |
| 22 | Jonas FOLGER | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’29.587 |
| 23 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’29.632 |
| 24 | Sam LOWES | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’29.651 |
| 25 | Marco BEZZECCHI | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’29.809 |
| 26 | Philipp OETTL | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’29.948 |
| 27 | Jake DIXON | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’30.071 |
| 28 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’30.101 |
| 29 | Joe ROBERTS | American Racing KTM | 1’30.728 |
| 30 | Lukas TULOVIC | Kiefer Racing | 1’30.963 |
| 31 | Teppei NAGOE | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’31.008 |
| 32 | Xavi CARDELUS | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’31.186 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com
