Cover Photo: motogp.com
Qualifying:
The arrival of experienced Moto3 rider Miguel Oliveira in the Factory Red Bull KTM Ajo Team has been very successful, as the Portugese rider set the bench mark lap early on in Qualifying. But with French rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo and his teammate Navarro, Brit Danny Kent and several others showing their hand in the final minutes, it really was anybody’s to grab. Alexis Masbou took pole position with 3 minutes left but he did it taking a huge slipstream to the finish line, anyone else trying to improve without slipstream lost about 0.2 in the final sector. Mapfre Mahindra’s Bagnaia, looked like he was about to steal pole, taking with him Andrea Locatelli, but again they lost out in that last sector.
He might be 27, but believe it or not Masbou’s pole today was his first ever! So with favourites Oliveria, Kent and Quartararo unable to deliver in the dying seconds of Qualifying, the mixed up shuffled up grid for tomorrow’s Moto3 Race looks like this.
1. Alexis Masbou FRA SAXOPRINT RTG (Honda) 2m 6.170s
2. Isaac Viñales SPA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse (Husqvarna) 2m 6.237s
3. Niccolò Antonelli ITA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 2m 6.245s
4. Francesco Bagnaia ITA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) 2m 6.253s
5. John McPhee GBR SAXOPRINT RTG (Honda) 2m 6.254s
6. Fabio Quartararo FRA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 2m 6.293s
7. Andrea Locatelli ITA Gresini Racing Team Moto3 (Honda) 2m 6.323s
8. Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 2m 6.378s
9. Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Honda) 2m 6.426s
10. Efren Vazquez SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 2m 6.465s
11. Livio Loi BEL RW Racing GP (Honda) 2m 6.551s
12. Jorge Navarro SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 2m 6.574s
13. Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 2m 6.729s
14. Karel Hanika CZE Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 2m 6.815s
15. Hiroki Ono JPN Leopard Racing (Honda) 2m 6.829s
16. Niklas Ajo FIN RBA Racing Team (KTM) 2m 6.891s
17. Romano Fenati ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 2m 7.099s
18. Jules Danilo FRA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 2m 7.195s
19. Remy Gardner AUS CIP (Mahindra) 2m 7.235s
20. Darryn Binder RSA Outox Reset Drink Team (Mahindra) 2m 7.250s
21. Enea Bastianini ITA Gresini Racing Team Moto3 (Honda) 2m 7.308s
22. Philipp Oettl GER Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 2m 7.320s
23. Alessandro Tonucci ITA Outox Reset Drink Team (Mahindra) 2m 7.325s
24. Juanfran Guevara SPA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) 2m 7.387s
25. Jorge Martin SPA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) 2m 7.459s
26. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Drive M7 SIC (KTM) 2m 7.602s
27. Gabriel Rodrigo ARG RBA Racing Team (KTM) 2m 8.035s
28. Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL Drive M7 SIC (KTM) 2m 8.040s
29. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 2m 8.350s
30. Matteo Ferrari ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) 2m 8.497s
31. Tatsuki Suzuki JPN CIP (Mahindra) 2m 8.753s
32. Maria Herrera SPA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse (Husqvarna) 2m 9.431s
33. Marco Bezzecchi ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) 2m 9.757s
34. Loris Cresson BEL RBA Racing Team (KTM) 2m 13.015s
How close is close? The top 17 riders are separated by 1 second…
MotoJimmyP 