Argentina Moto3: Back to back poles for Sasaki
Ayumu Sasaki lost his rivals and powered away to pole in qualifying for the Moto3 Argentina Grand Prix, the second round of the championship held at Termas de Rio Hondo.
The Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider had been the man to beat in the dry, top in both of Friday’s sessions, while Romano Fenati lead the way in the damp morning session.
That hint of speed was realised late in the session. Sitting fifteenth on the timesheets, a fall for Jose Antonio Rueda dictated that it was time for the pack to fall back into the pits.
Leaving first with Stefano Nepa and Ivan Ortola for company, the Japanese rider cut across the blue kerb for a shortcut to lose his rivals.
Gapped and now solo, Sasaki got to business, picking off fourteen positions on as close to a perfect lap as possible in the tricky drying conditions - a 1m 48.359s best for back to pack pole positions.
Deniz Oncu moved up through Q1 and his experience on the drying track aided him to second - but that was a sizable 0.603s slower than the #71 bike after his own battle to lose the traffic on his Red Bull KTM Ajo.
The final front row slot went to Diogo Moreira. The Brazilian made the most of his track position in the closing stages to move into third for MT Helmets - MSI.
Ortola was the early pacesetter after moving through Q1 on his way to fourth for the Angeluss MTA Team.
Jaume Masia decided solo was best as he ran alone on the Leopard bike to move up to fifth on his final run.
His equally experienced teammate Tatsuki Suzuki was next fastest in sixth as time at the track before was a huge benefit in the session.
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David Alonso was the best of the talented rookie crop, seventh for Autosolar GasGas Aspar after finding a few extra tenths on his final flying lap.
Scott Ogden and the VisionTrack Team have top ten aspirations for Argentina. After a solid dry practice and riding high for much of the wet P3 session, confidence was high. The Brit slotted onto the back of one of the faster groups on track and used that to claim eighth. His teammate Joshua Whatley starts 28th.
Andrea Migno made the most of his replacement ride to claim ninth, his track knowledge seving him well.
The top ten was completed by Portimao victor Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3).
Kaito Toba provided the tow for Oncu among others, while often in the fast groups on track the SIC58 Squadra Corse couldn’t find his own advantage so finished his Saturday in eleventh.
Rueda, who came through Q1, managed to get his Red Bull KTM Ajo back to the pits and was released with just two minutes to get around. Crossing the line with five seconds to the flag his final lap pulled the rookie podium finisher from Portimao up to 13th.
Collin Viejer missed the beginning of the session as his mechanics worked on his Husqvarna in the pits. Unable to manage the same level of progress he was 17th at the end of the session.
What happened in Q1?
Oncu was so confident of moving on, when he ran wide at the start of the final flying laps, he instead peeled into the pits. Ortola followed, with Rueda and Ryusei Yamanaka (18th) also making the step up.
That left Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who just a few weeks ago was topping the Portimao Pre-season test, fifth in the session, a further setback after moving up through Q1 last race.
Ortola went thorugh lapping behind David Salvador, but the favour was not returned, leaving the CIP Green Power rider 22nd after Q1.
Further down the grid you will also find Romano Fenati, who topped the wet P3 session, and will line up 24th for Rivacold Snipers.
Injuries and Replacements
Lorenzo Fellon is missing after his shouder was dislocated again on the warm-up lap at the last round. He is replaced by seasoned rider Andrea Migno, who returns to the paddock after finding himself without a seat for the 2023 season.
That race also saw incident at the other end - the conclusion saw Joel Kelso still at speed hit the back of the then celebrating race winner Holgado. That crash left the Australian out of action and replaced by David Almansa (25th).
