Diogo Moreira secured back-to-back pole positions for tomorrow’s race in Mugello, but it could be in jeopardy. It was by no means an easy feat, with record-breaking lap times and violent crashes throughout.
Major Highside Brings Flags Out
Aragón GP winner Deniz Öncü, last year’s Mugello GP winner Joe Roberts, and the reigning Moto3 World Champion David Alonso all found themselves battling it out for Q2 advancement. The session got underway, with all riders quickly completing their sighting laps to start putting in flying lap times.
Darren Binder had a small moment while setting his first lap time but managed to keep the bike upright. However, this placed him just outside of the advancement to Q2. Iván Ortolá looked strong but had to slow down due to yellow flags being out. Zonta van den Goorbergh and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat both crashed in a nasty collision, with the Thai rider unable to avoid the high side from the Dutchman. Luckily, both riders walked away unscathed, but their day ended.
Back to normal race conditions with just six minutes left, and the climbing heat added to the pressure. Our strongest contenders for advancement proved they were worthy as Roberts broke his own all-time lap record time from last year at 1:49.847. But who would join the American rider, Öncü, and Alonso in Q2? With thirty seconds to spare, Ayumu Sasaki secured the fourth spot, with Ortolá missing out by 0.075.
More Accidents and Incidents Put Final Grid Into Question
Many expected Filip Salač to have tough competition to keep the pole position after his lap time in yesterday’s session was nearly pipped by Celestino Vietti and Manuel González. The second qualifying session began without any issues. Brazilian rider Moreira was quick to break Robert’s lap time record with 1:49.745.
Gresini Racing rider Albert Arenas came up the board into second place, followed closely by Öncü and Arón Canet. However, any chances for them to keep those times were waved away by another yellow flag as Salač made contact with someone. He fared worse, losing control and dropping the bike. Suddenly, Moreira arrived back at the garage with a very broken exhaust pipe. After reviewing the replay, it appeared that Marcos Ramírez was also involved in the incident that was to be investigated after the session.
With less than two minutes to go, Barry Baltus came off in a bad way and looked like he needed some serious medical attention on his right leg. With two sectors under yellow flag conditions, the rest of the qualifying contenders.
Top Ten on the Grid
- Diogo Moreira
- Arón Canet
- Albert Arenas
- Marcos Ramírez
- Manuel González
- Deniz Öncü
- Celestino Vietti
- Barry Baltus
- Daniel Holgado
- Tony Arbolino
The FIM investigation determines that either Moreira or Ramirez is at fault for causing an incident with Salač, and penalties may be imposed that will affect the starting grid in Mugello. We’re also hoping that Baltus has not sustained a weekend-ending injury. Whether the grid for the Mugello race looks different or not by today’s results, it’s sure to be a thrill ride from start to finish.