Catalunya Moto2: Gardner powers to pole position in Spain
Remy Gardner looked in control as he became the first rider to dip under the 1m 43s benchmark and claim pole position ahead of the Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix, round seven of the championship.
Running solo, as were most of the field, the MotoGP bound Australian looked at ease forcing his Red Bull KTM Ajo to fit where he wanted. With the changes at turn ten every fastest lap becomes a new lap record, which Gardner now holds after setting a new best of 1m 42.977s.
Leading the championship following his win in Mugello, it is his second pole of the season after earning the slot earlier in the year at Jerez.
Gardner had to push hard to keep his team-mate at bay, running off at turn one when carrying the pace needed for pole. That was enough to keep rookie Raul Fernandez in second, just 0.158s slower.
SAG’s Bo Bendsneyder completes the all Kalex front row, his second time in third this season after starting from the front row in Qatar before his arm pump issues arose.
Augusto Fernandez was persistent in his quest for a top three start but fell just short, he is the best of the Elf Marc VDS riders in fourth.
Fabio Di Giannantonio staged an impressive comeback after falling in FP3. Moving comfortably through Q1 he finished Saturday in a solid fifth for Federal Oil Gresini.
Xavi Vierge was one of few late improvers, moving up to sixth at the close of the session for Petronas Sprinta racing.
Rookie Ai Ogura put in a confident performance to claim seventh for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia.
The pair moving upward demoted Sam Lowes to eighth, as he found progress hard to come by as he got an out of seat warning following Raul Fernandez on the second Marc VDS entry.
Somkiat Chantra made the most of his extended track time after graduating from Q1 to move into ninth for Idemitsu.
With his early best lap cancelled, Marco Bezzecchi could only just manage to secure a spot inside the top ten for Sky Racing Team VR46.
Jorge Navarro avoided a fall in Q1, which jarred his shoulder. He was not as fortunate in Q2. Pushing too hard while seventh he slipped to twelfth while unable to fight back in the Speed Up pit garage. Aron Canet moved ahead of him to be the top Boscoscuro rider for Inde Aspar.
All of the top twelve were within a second of the pole time in a competitive qualifying session.
Hector Garzo was unlucky not to get through to the second half of qualifying in Moto2. He finished Q1 fifth and was unable improve after a late fall from his Flexbox HP 40 machine.
The sessions other faller, Jake Dixon saw his time slip to last as he returned to the pits following his turn five spill.
After his understandable absence from the race last weekend, Tom Luthi made it to the top four and looked set to appear in Q2. A slight move outside track limits saw his lap cancelled and he finished the session ninth instead, for 23rd on the grid.
There are two Moto2 wildcard riders joining the paddock in Barcelona. Keminth Kubo (VR46 Master Camp Team) will fill 30th just ahead of the returning Piotr Biesiekirski for SAG Team in 31st.
