Roberts on Qatar Moto2 pole with equal time to Marini
Full Qatar Moto2 qualifying results
Joe Roberts has pulled off an incredible maiden pole position at the 2020 Moto2 opener in Qatar with an identical lap time to Luca Marini, but takes top spot thanks to his second fastest lap time in qualifying.
The American Racing rider topped Friday practice having stunned the paddock with a new Losail International Circuit track record in the intermediate class.
The American rider duly followed that up with a 1m 58.136s which matched Marini’s lap time set earlier in Q2. With qualifying rules splitting riders with equal times by using their second fastest laps, pole position went to Roberts to deny Valentino Rossi’s half-brother.
It marks the first American on pole position in Grand Prix racing since Kenny Noyes back at the 2010 French Moto2 round.
Marini, who was working on sharing slipstreams with Sky Racing VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, has to settle for second place but he did keep clear of a late improvement from Enea Bastianini on the Italtrans Racing to complete an all-Kalex front row.
Jorge Navarro initially broke the circuit record with a 1m 58.316s before being shuffled back to fourth place on the Speed Up, while Bo Bendsneyder impressed on the NTS RW Racing GP bike with fifth place.
Remy Gardner bounced back from two practice crashes to take the final place on the second row in sixth place for ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team to fractionally edge out Bezzecchi.
Jorge Martin put in some promising laps for Red Bull KTM Ajo with eight place, as both he and the team adjust to running the Kalex chassis for the first time since the Austrian manufacturer pulled out of the Moto2 class, with 2019’s Qatar race-winner Lorenzo Baldassarri rounding out the third row for Flexbox HP40 Pons.
Xavi Vierge threatened to steal the headlines with a late fast lap, setting the fastest sector one time of any rider, but his lap faded to see the Petronas Sprinta Racing rider drop to 10th place.
With Fabio Di Giannantonio (Speed Up) in 11th place and Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in 12th place, Marcel Schrotter pulled off a solid recovery from a poor practice showing with 13th place for Liqui Moly Intact GP.
Tetsuta Nagashima slotted into 14th place on his Red Bull KTM Ajo debut, ahead Nicolo Bulega on the Federal Oil Gresini and Aron Canet on the Aspar Speed Up. With Edgar Pons making his Moto2 return with 17th place in qualifying for Flexbox HP40 Pons race, Thomas Luthi endured a disaster in qualifying for Intact GP down in 18th place and last of the runners in Q2.
Sam Lowes has withdrawn from the Qatar Moto2 round due to his shoulder injury sustained at Jerez during a pre-season test last month but did complete Friday practice to assess his condition.
Fellow British rider Jake Dixon narrowly missed out on progressing through Q1 for Petronas Sprinta Racing and will line up in 20th place for tomorrow’s 2020 opening round.
With the Qatar MotoGP cancelled due to travel bans amid the coronavirus outbreak, Moto2 along with Moto3 take centre stage at the Losail International Circuit this weekend as part of the revised schedule for the 2020 opening round.
