Thailand Moto2: Aldeger on pole, Acosta begins title shot from second
The weather turned and began to head towards the predicted thunder for the MotoGP sprint, but Aldeguer made the best of his time on track to start round seventeen of the Moto2 championship on pole at the Chang International Circuit.
The Beta Tools Speed Up rider ran solo all session and had picked up a huge amount of time on his pole run only to have a huge moment - losing the front out of the final corner and almost off of his Boscoscuro.
The time he had gained was so large he still improved taking pole with a best of 1m 35.371s.
It is Aldeguer’s second pole with his first coming at the last round at Phillip Island.
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Acosta edges nearer to title with second
Championship leader Pedro Acosta lead the way on Friday and backed that up with a record lap equalling lap in P3, where the gulf between his performance and his nearest rival, Tony Arbolino began.
Acosta looked set for pole with just over three minutes on the clock , topping the timesheets briefly before being bested by Aldeguer, ending up 0.177s slower.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider holds a big grid advantage over his main rival Tony Arbolino.
Winner of the last round in Australia, Arbolino was also the victor last time out in Buriram. Echoing his season, the Elf Marc VDS rider needed a strong performance to set him up to stay in contention.
Instead an early crash at turn four left the #14 sat in his pit box awaiting the return of his damaged Kalex in practice. Some frantic work by his mechanics got his bike back out on track, but there was no progress to be had, leaving the Italian in need of a Q1 trip for the fourth time this season.
Moving through successfully, the best he had for qualifying was eighth, just over half a second shy of the pole time.
Albert Arenas got a huge tow behind his teammate Acosta and Somkiat Chantra earlier in the session, which brough him the final front row slot, his first time there this season.
Aron Canet worked his way into the session to climb to fourth for Pons Wegow Los40.
Chantra got a rockstar reception for his home race, and the Thai rider gave the local fans plenty to cheer.
Having taken a home pole in 2022, he couldn’t quite match that achievement but took his special helmet and bike livery to fifth.
Marcos Ramirez was the early session leader on his way to sixth for American Racing, only just behind the Thai rider in terms of time.
Alonso Lopez claimed seventh on the second Boscoscuro bike, with Arbolino the best of the riders to come from Q1 in eighth.
Jake Dixon was riding with the pain of a dislocated shoulder following his Australia fall. The #96 put in a huge late effort to ensure he let his recovering body rest as much a possible, moving from the at risk slot back up to fifth overall in P3. from there the British rider pushed through the pain barrier for ninth for Aspar.
Joe Roberts completed the top ten for Italtrans.
Sergio Garcia was the highest placing rookie in eleventh for the Pons team.
What happened in Q1?
A Q1 loaded with talent saw not all the riders capable of progression making it.
Filip Salac lead the way forward, joined by the Marc VDS riders Arbolino and Sam Lowes (12th) and Izan Guevara. Salac went on to crash right at th start of Q2, leaving the Gresini rider 18th.
Ai Ogura and Manuel Gonzalez were the riders to miss out, lining up 19th and 20th respectively.
The Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 rider tried a second run, but the best laps were found earlier in the session.
Injuries and Replacements
With Jake Dixon declared fit on his arrival at the Chang International circuit, there is a full Moto2 grid in action in Thailand.
