Styrian Moto2: Gardner grabs late pole position in Austria
Remy Gardner put together the best lap of the session late on to topple Ai Ogura and claim pole position ahead of the Moto2 Styrian Grand Prix, round ten of the championship.
The composed championship leader lapped consistently and put in one even faster lap that was chalked off for exceeding track limits. His previous best lap of 1m 28.668 was reinstated to see him sit at the head of the grid for the third time this season.
It had looked possible that Moto2 rookie Ai Ogura might hold on to the top spot after he got faster with every lap, but it was not to be with the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider nudging ahead by 0.121s difference.
It still marks Ogura’s first intermediate front row start in a strong weekend so far for the Idemitsu Honda Team.
They will be joined on the front row at the Red Bull Ring by Marco Bezzecchi . The Italian looked to be back to his best but said he experienced a technical problem on the bike, which slowed his progress. The Sky Racing Team VR46 rider was just slower than his own FP3 time.
Raul Fernandez went from pole to victory in Assen, but could not match the feat in Austria. The rookie, an impressive second in the championship and already MotoGP bound, was frustrated to find Stefano Manzi in front of him during his last charge, the Italian going for his own best lap at the time.
Aron Canet pushed hard to climb to fifth for Aspar and was the best of the non-Kalex riders for Boscoscuro.
Augusto Fernandez was one of several riders in contention for the front row before fading as the session went on - he starts sixth for Elf Marc VDS racing, just ahead of his team-mate Sam Lowes in seventh.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta equalled his best ever qualifying in eighth, where he also started last time out in Assen as the Italtrans man continues to get to grips with the intermediate class after struggling last season.
Somkiat Chantra completed a very successful day for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia as he claimed ninth for the team.
Marcel Schrotter did enough to complete the top ten for Liqui Moly Intact GP.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best of the Q1 graduates in twelfth for Federal Oil Gresini. He was just faster than championship veteran Tom Luthi in 13th for SAG Team.
Celestino Vietti was a constant feature at the top of the Q1 timesheets, his final effort moved him to second, but giving everything saw him fall at the start of his next lap at turn one.
The Sky Racing Team VR46 rider was run out of the progression positions as he made his way back to the pits, with Albert Arenas suddenly popping up into the top four after not featuring to depose him. The Aspar rider went on to qualify 15th.
Joe Roberts (Italtrans) and Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta) also staked a claim for the Q2 places late on but missed out. Roberts finished the session sixth, behind Vietti, with Dixon seventh for 21st on the grid.
