German Moto2: Late lap record fires Fernandez to pole
Raul Fernandez took a third pole position in his debut season with a late record lap powering him to the top of the timesheets ahead of the German Moto2 race, round eight of the championship.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was heading for a front row start but bucked the trend of early laps securing pole with a late posting of his best - a 1m23.397s - for a new pole record at the German track.
Fabio Di Giannantinio looked assured with his MotoGP future announced and with his confidence on a high. The Gresini rider was sitting in first until being pushed back in the final three minutes, finishing a fairly hefty 0.347s behind Fernandez’s special lap.
Remy Gardner, arriving as championship leader following his pole to win conversion in Catalunya, will fill the final front row slot. Dominating ahead of qualifying after topping every free practice session, the Austrailian had to settle for third in Q2.
Marco Bezzecchi did things the hard way, needing to first come through Q1, which he did in second place behind Bo Bendsneyder. Slotting his Sky Racing Vr46 bike in behind several riders as a marker, notably an early run behind Raul Fernandez, saw him climb to fourth.
Xavi Vierge’s time wasn’t far off the Bezzecchi’s best, taking him to fifth for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Sixth on the grid went to Jorge Navarro - the best non Kalex rider for Speed Up on the Boscoscuro.
A fall slowed progress for Sam Lowes - he will line up seventh for Elf Marc VDS.
Rookie Ai Ogura put in another solid performance to claim eighth for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, ahead of Bendsneyder ( Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) as he pushed on after moving up to the second qualifying session for ninth.
Aron Canet also came through Q1 to complete the top ten for Aspar.
Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini) was the last rider in FP3 to ensure an automatic Q2 place, he went on to qualify eleventh after improving late on.
Ninth fastest in the morning and gaining over a second overnight, Jake Dixon made the most of his new crew chief to find time but was unable to make another leap in qualifying. The Petronas Sprinta rider was 15th at the end of Q2.
Fermin Aldeguer replaces Yari Montella again at +Ego Speed Up. He was ninth in Q1 for 23rd on the grid.
Alonso Lopez had that seat last time out, this time the Spaniard instead sits in for Hector Garzo, so gets to try out a Kalex at Flexbox HP40 which he placed one slot higher in 22nd.
The veterans of the class found the going tough. Seventh after Friday, Simone Corsi finds himself down in 29th, one place ahead of Tom Luthi in 28th.
