Moreira takes historical pole in Moto2, becoming the first Brazilian rider to score a pole position. It was a tough battle between him and Öncü once again, as championship leader Gonzales crashed and ended up without a set lap time.
Qualifying 1
Salač Crashes but Proceeds to Q2
The first qualifying wasn’t too eventful. All riders chose relatively the same strategy of pitting at the same time. Salač was one of the exceptions, telling the press earlier his aim is to set his lap right after coming up and then save tyres for one last push.
His hopes were temporarily crushed as he fell off the bike and struggled to get it back running. With a late lap, he became the last rider to go through into Q2 in hopes to fight for pole. He joined López, Guevara and Arbolino who set the fastest lap times.
Qualifying 2
Disaster For The Leader
González, the Moto2 championship leader, crashed only a few minutes into the session. With no chance of returning to the track on time, he didn’t set a lap time in Q2. He will start tomorrow from 18th position on the grid – a major blow to his title campaign.
Fight For Pole between Moreira and Öncü
López and Salač were the early time setters – getting provisional pole – before Öncü once again started speeding up. He already topped 2 sessions this weekend and looked set to win another. He set a time of 1:50.166, just a few hundreds in front of Canet.
Moreira had one more lap started though and he was flawless. With all riders close together, Moreira improved Öncü’s benchmark by more than two tenths and took both the pole position and the lap record. Baltus then took Öncü’s spot as well, pushing him to the last place in the front row for tomorrow.
Best of the Rest Fighting Outside Pole
Behind the fastest riders like Moreira and Öncü, another championship contender Canet, will start fourth. The position gives him comfortable lead over his closest rivals in Moto2. Holgado and Alonso will follow him in the second row.
Salač – unhappy after his earlier fast lap got deleted – will start in seventh, alongside van den Goorbergh and Roberts. López who also got an earlier lap time deleted wraps up the top ten.
Moreira became the first Brazilian in Moto2 history to score pole position. He now has a target on his back, with fast riders behind and a title favourite climbing back up the order. After career-best P2 in Silverstone, all eyes will on Aragón tomorrow to see whether he can convert his first pole into his first win as well.