Moto2 Qatar: First pole for Vietti after Lowes lap cancelled
Celestino Vietti was awarded pole position after the clock hit zero in qualifying for the opening round of the Moto2 championship at a windy and dusty Qatar.
The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider got his season underway in style. Having been sat in seventh, he found time around the track on his final flying lap to climb to second on the timesheets as the chequrered flag waved.
Promotion to pole came after late lap cancellations, including Sam Lowes who had posted a faster time before it was removed for exceeding track limits at turn 15, leaving the Italian with the his first intermediate class pole.
Tony Arbolino, now at Elf Marc VDS with Lowes, also improved as the session progressed, leading briefly before his time was bettered by Vietti, and initailly his team-mate, he finished second - only 0.112s slower.
Sam Lowes finished top in the slower FP3 earlier in the day and built on that lapping faster and faster as the session moved on. Looking set to claim his third consecutive pole at Lusail, where he won both races last season, he was rolled back to his next best time, which saw him hold on to a front row start as he continues to battle tendinitis issues in his hand.
Gresini’s Filip Salac made an instant impact in his first Moto2 qualifying session. The rookie lead the times briefly on his way to fourth and was the best of the rookie riders. His placing also marks a best ever qualifying performance by a Czech rider in Moto2.
Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) dropped to fifth in the closing minutes while Augusto Fernandez, who had dominated Friday and arrived in qualifying fastest, left it to the final seconds of the session to move up from eighth to sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Jake Dixon had climbed up to third but his best lap was cancelled as it was set as yellow flags waved for a crash (Acosta), leaving him to push again for seventh on the grid with Inde GasGas Aspar.
Fermin Aldeguer was the best of the riders not using Kalex machinery. He worked his Boscoscuro hard to secure eighth and was the best of the riders gaining promotion from Q1 with MV Conveyors Speed Up.
Aron Canet spent much of the session without a lap to his name on his way to ninth on the grid for Flexbox HP40.
Rookie Pedro Acosta was one of a handful of riders to fall at turn 5 over the sessions so far as the corner proves treacherous for the intermediate class. The reigning Moto3 champion had already banked a lap good enough to just hold on to a top ten start on the second Red Bull KTM Ajo entry.
A much improved Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) came close to taking the slot, but settled for eleventh, with fellow American Joe Roberts 14th for Italtrans.
Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40) and Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), who is still recovering from fracturing his hand in testing last month, split them on the grid.
Albert Arenas came through Q1 with the best time and went on to 15th in the second half of qualifying for Aspar.
Bo Bendsneyder is also nursing his wounds, having recently had his collarbone plated. He too moved through Q2 to place 17th for Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team.
Many of the old Moto3 regulars to make the move to Moto2 failed to move through Q1. Gabriel Rodrigo on the second SAG Team bike was 23rd, Romano Fenati (MB Conveyors Speed Up) 13th in the first session for 27th overall, while Niccolo Antonelli (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) lines up last on the grid.
