Moto2 Brno: Early lap lifts Roberts back to pole
Joe Roberts got his season back on track after a dip at Jerez with pole posiotion at Brno ahead of the Moto2 Czech Grand Prix.
The Tennor American Racing rider landed his second career pole, with both having come this season as the American rediscovered his qualifying form from Qatar.
His best of 2m 01.692s was set on just his third lap of his first flying run, and with improvements hard to come by as the session went on at a boiling hot Brno, it held firm.
Sam Lowes makes the front row for the third consecutive race, he worked hard with his team-mate after the EG 0,0 Marc VDS riders left it late to join the action. The British rider finished a slim 0.130s off the pole time.
Enea Bastianini was race winner last time out in the Andalucia Grand Prix and will be looking to repeat the feat after securing third for Italtrans, completing an all Kalex powered front row.
Ex-MotoGP rider Hafizh Syahrin looked back to his best as he climbed to fourth for Openbank Aspar, his best grid position while in the intermediate class. The Malaysian was also the best of the Speed Up riders.
Marco Bezzecchi missed out on the usual, now expected, Sky Racing Team VR46 teamwork with Luca Marini - the pair could not link up on track as they were thwarted by traffic. Bezzechi fared best in fifth, with Marini tenth.
Jorge Martin was sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo, ahead of Marcel Schrotter who climbed to seventh for Liqui Moly Intact GP.
Lowes couldn’t quite pull his team-mate along with him so Augusto Fernandez will fill eighth on the grid.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best of the Q1 graduates. The Italian did enough to secure a top ten start for MB Conveyors Speed Up by securing ninth with his best run.
Aron Canet was the top rookie and will line up in 15th on the second Aspar entry, next to Briton Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) who also came through Q1 on his way to 14th.
There were several big names who didn’t make it out of the first half of qualifying - championship leader Tetsuta Nagashima lacked pace and could only manage seventh in the session - that becomes 21st on the grid.
Elsewhere, Remy Gardner’s early spill saw him unable to put in a challenge to continue his qualifying, he was eighth at the time and held position as there were no late fast laps. That translates to 22nd for race day.
Tom Luthi struggled again at Brno, the paddock veteran starts 26th.
Moto3 champion Lorenzo Dalla Porta continues to find the intermediate class a tough learning curve. He will sit in 28th on the grid.
Dominique Aegerter returns to deputise for Jesko Raffin at NTS. Currently riding in the MotoE championship, he fared batter than many of the regular riders claiming 23rd.
