British Moto2: Bezzecchi blasts away lap record for pole position
Marco Bezzecchi looked back to his best but left it late to pick off his rivals, posting his pole lap right at the end of qualifying for the Moto2 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, round twelve of the championship.
The Sky Racing Team VR46 rider wrestled his bike into position and improved steadily as the session went on to claim his first pole of the season with a time of 2m 03.988s - a new lap record.
A busy track was not enough to deter the Italian, using the traffic to his advantage and focussing on the pair of Red Bull bikes working together ahead of him in the closing seconds.
It is the Kalex rider’s first pole of the season and only his second in the intermediate class.
Jorge Navarro came close to snatching the top spot as the chequered flag waved. A string of cancelled laps piled on the pressure but the Lightech Speed Up rider worked his Boscoscuro to the limit and remained calm to finish an eventual 0.043s behind Bezzecchi.
Sam Lowes, who scored pole last time out in Austria, set the early benchmark lap and then lowered it further to lead for most of the session. The Brit looked on course for a home pole but it was not to be. Lowes took a positive look on his front row start, with a wheelie in front of the fans and good solo pace seeing him race-ready.
Championship leader Remy Gardner was a solid fourth for Red Bull KTM Ajoafter being near the front end of the timesheets all session.
He is joined on the second row by his team-mate and closest title rival, rookie Raul Fernandez in fifth, with Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio not far off his pace in sixth.
Augusto Fernandez was seventh quickest on the second Marc VDS entry.
Aron Canet had originally set a new record lap back in FP3 before it was lowered again in qualifying but could not repeat the feat himself. The Aspar rider starts eighth.
Xavi Vierge was the best of the riders to graduate from Q1, moving into ninth in Q2 for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Joe Roberts completed the top ten times for Italtrans.
Stefano Manzi topped Q1 for Flexbox HP40, sitting in the pit at the end of the session with his beanie on instead of a helmet as he looked to save tyres while clear in first. He went on to set the twelfth best time in Q1.
Marcel Schrotter has been given a long lap penalty for the race. It was awarded for not responding to the orange and black ‘meatball’ flag in FP1 when the water hose on his bike disconnected and dropped water on the track. He will sit in 15th on the grid.
Fermin Aldeguer is in for Yari Montella at Lightech Speed Up following much off-track drama, which lead to the team suspending their regular rider with concerns over his wrist injury. Montella had been given the all clear to ride with it in Austria.
Aldeguer went straight through to Q2 and went on to finish the session 16th.
Tom Luthi, who recently announced his retirement at the end of the season, qualified 17th for Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team.
Hafizh Syahrin had looked in pain earlier in the day, and was still visibly wincing from his back twinge in qualifying. The NTS RW Racing rider managed three laps to qualify 26th on the grid.
Jake Dixon is absent as he steps up to ride for Petronas in MotoGP. He is replaced in the Moto2 team by Adam Norrodin, who qualified 29th.
Following a fall earlier in the day, Lorenzo Dalla Porta was withdrawn from the race weekend with a shoulder injury.
