Moto2 Jerez: Navarro takes control with first ever pole
Jorge Navarro claimed his first Moto2 pole position with a strong performance ahead of the intermediate Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
The HDR Heidrun Speed Up rider broke the all time lap record again to finish with a best of 1m 41.182s which held strong as fast laps became hard to come by as the session wound up.
Navarro had first beaten the record in FP1 on Friday, and topped the afternoon session too but saw Remy Gardner top FP3, before smashing the lap record again in the crucial final qualifying session.
His biggest competition for pole came from Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex), who dropped the gap to just 0.091s but could not quite match his fellow countryman on home soil.
The return to Europe saw success for Augusto Fernandez too, he marked his first race back from injury, though still suffering some pain in his hand, with a front row start as he powered to third for the the Flexbox HP40 Team.
He tried to pull his team-mate, the unlucky Lorenzo Baldassarri around the track - the Italian’s weekend had been littered with breakdowns and crashes ahead of qualifying - and although he moved into the top ten, seventh was the best the championship leader could manage.
They were split by Gardner, who will start fifth for SAG Team, top rookie Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) who’s final dash around the track moved him up from seventeenth to sixth and Fabio DI Giannantonio, who also made late progress on the second Speed Up to fill seventh on the grid, completing a successful outing for the team.
Tom Luthi won last time out in Texas but did not seem to have the pace in Spain. He starts eighth for Dynavolt Intact GP. His team-mate Marcel Schrotter was the pole man in Austin, but is even further down the grid, in 14th position.
Tetsuta Nagashima was a solid eighth on the second SAG machine, while Brad Binder was the best of the riders to make it through form Q1 in tenth for Red Bull and was the highest placing KTM entry.
Sam Lowes pushed hard to find improvements but could only climb to eleventh in the closing stages for Gresini.
Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made up some places after coming through Q1 to claim twelfth while Luca Marini fought his way to 13th on the second Sky Racing Team VR46 bike.
Mattia Pasini returns as a replacement rider again, this time for Jake Dixon at at the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team. After his fabulous fourth in Texas hopes were high, but his first time on a KTM proved trickier, he starts 24th .
Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), who won the Moto3 race in Jerez last season, could only manage a best of 30th.
Khairul Idham Pawi was declared unfit to take any further part in the race weekend after fracturing a finger on his right hand in his practice crash.
