#ValenciaGP, Jorge Navarro snatched last Moto2 pole position, MV Augusta on first row after 43 years
The Spaniard from Speed Up made an impressive job and put himself on pole position, while his teammate had the pace but crashed finishing still 6th. Jorge Martin is 2nd ahead of an historical Stefano Manzi who brings MV Augusta at top
Last Moto2 Q1 of the season gave emotion until last second with the riders who fought for the 4 spots to go into Q2 in the usual close session of the intermediate class. Marcel Schrotter snatched Q1 leadership just in the final stages of the qualifying, with the German who did a lap in 1.34.873 to be faster than everyone else joining Q2 alongside his teammate Tom Luthi.
A superb Jake Dixon took Q2, a really good result considering how much he struggled during the whole season, with Angel Nieto Team rider who was able to ride under the 1.35 and being just 45 thousandths of a second slower than Q1 leader. Enea Bastianini was just behind, with the Italian who snatched a late 3rd place being the last rider going under the 1.34. Also Nicolò Bulega, who led the session for a while, got a spot into Q2, the last one, despite a crash.
Pos. | Num. | Pilota | Nazione | Team | Moto | Km/h | Data e ora | Distanza 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 269.6 | 1'34.873 | |
2 | 96 | Jake DIXON | GBR | Inde Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 273.9 | 1'34.918 | 0.045 / 0.045 |
3 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 271.7 | 1'34.949 | 0.076 / 0.031 |
4 | 11 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 267.5 | 1'35.023 | 0.150 / 0.074 |
5 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | MV Agusta | 268.5 | 1'35.050 | 0.177 / 0.027 |
6 | 72 | Marco BEZZECCHI | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 270.7 | 1'35.061 | 0.188 / 0.011 |
7 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | Kalex | 272.8 | 1'35.062 | 0.189 / 0.001 |
8 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NED | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 270.7 | 1'35.082 | 0.209 / 0.020 |
9 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | FLEXBOX HP 40 | Kalex | 267.5 | 1'35.258 | 0.385 / 0.176 |
10 | 35 | Somkiat CHANTRA | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 273.9 | 1'35.286 | 0.413 / 0.028 |
11 | 20 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | INA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 269.6 | 1'35.880 | 1.007 / 0.594 |
12 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 269.6 | 1'35.967 | 1.094 / 0.087 |
13 | 69 | Sean Dylan KELLY | USA | American Racing KTM | KTM | 272.8 | 1'36.130 | 1.257 / 0.163 |
14 | 70 | Tommaso MARCON | ITA | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 266.5 | 1'36.238 | 1.365 / 0.108 |
15 | 47 | Adam NORRODIN | MAL | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Kalex | 268.5 | 1'36.345 | 1.472 / 0.107 |
16 | 18 | Xavi CARDELUS | AND | Inde Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 271.7 | 1'36.727 | 1.854 / 0.382 |
17 | 3 | Lukas TULOVIC | GER | Kiefer Racing | KTM | 267.5 | 1'36.854 | 1.981 / 0.127 |
18 | 16 | Joe ROBERTS | USA | American Racing KTM | KTM | 263.4 | 2'29.394 | 54.521 / 52.540 |
Jorge Navarro then made a super job on getting the pole position; Speed Up rider was amazing on his lap in a qualifying where his teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio got provisional pole position in the early stages of the session but ended crashing with few minutes left. The Spaniard obtained so the first time ahead of Jorge Martin for just 17 thousandths of a second and an historical Stefano Manzi who brought MV Augusta on first row for the first time!
Luca Marini opens second row in 4th followed by Tom Luthi and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who got a still positive 6th time after the crash, while Brad Binder, Augusto Fernandez and Enea Bastianini were just behind. Top ten is closed by Sam Lowes, Xavi Vierge and Mattia Pasini, with Andrea Locatelli 13th. World Champion Alex Marquez struggled a lot and finished 15th.
Pos. | Num. | Pilota | Nazione | Team | Moto | Km/h | Data e ora | Distanza 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | MB Conveyors Speed Up | Speed Up | 268.5 | 1'34.461 | |
2 | 88 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 268.5 | 1'34.478 | 0.017 / 0.017 |
3 | 62 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | MV Agusta | 265.4 | 1'34.633 | 0.172 / 0.155 |
4 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 272.8 | 1'34.646 | 0.185 / 0.013 |
5 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 269.6 | 1'34.674 | 0.213 / 0.028 |
6 | 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | MB Conveyors Speed Up | Speed Up | 262.4 | 1'34.704 | 0.243 / 0.030 |
7 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 272.8 | 1'34.727 | 0.266 / 0.023 |
8 | 40 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | SPA | FLEXBOX HP 40 | Kalex | 267.5 | 1'34.863 | 0.402 / 0.136 |
9 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 270.7 | 1'34.866 | 0.405 / 0.003 |
10 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 268.5 | 1'34.887 | 0.426 / 0.021 |
11 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 273.9 | 1'34.899 | 0.438 / 0.012 |
12 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 271.7 | 1'34.924 | 0.463 / 0.025 |
13 | 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 272.8 | 1'34.945 | 0.484 / 0.021 |
14 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | Kalex | 269.6 | 1'34.946 | 0.485 / 0.001 |
15 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 272.8 | 1'34.955 | 0.494 / 0.009 |
16 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 269.6 | 1'34.983 | 0.522 / 0.028 |
17 | 96 | Jake DIXON | GBR | Inde Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 270.7 | 1'35.085 | 0.624 / 0.102 |
18 | 11 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 271.7 | 1'35.385 | 0.924 / 0.300 |