Moto3 Mugello: Martin masters qualifying for fourth straight pole
Jorge Martin has again demonstrated his qualifying prowess with his fourth pole in a row ahead of the Moto3 Italian Grand Prix in Mugello, round six of the championship.
The Del Conca Gresini rider sat confidently in the pits after a strong solo lap midway through the session catapulted him to the top of the timesheets, then was one of the last to leave the pits for the now customary hectic final minutes, only to go quicker still - setting his best of 1m 56.634s as the chequered flag came out.
It is Martin’s 13th pole overall, equalling the record for the most gained in Moto3, which was also achieved by Alex Rins.
An all-Honda front row is completed by a pair of Japanese riders, with Tatsuki Suzuki holding on to the second he secured after shooting up from 28th just before the final waiting game in the pits began ahead of his SIC58 Squadra Corse team’s home race.
Third went to a superb late charge from Ayumu Sasaki, marking a great turnaround in fortunes for the Petronas Sprinta Racing man after ending his FP3 in the medical centre following a clash with Kaito Toba.
Aron Canet also left it late to make an impact moving up from the teens to eighth and then fourth for Estrella Galicia 0,0 on his final run.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi secured the fifth slot on the grid for Redox PrustelGP, his time holding on having been third before the field started their final runs. The Italian is the top home rider on the grid and best KTM qualifier.
Fabio Di Giannantonio had set the pace in the early part of the session before being forced to settle for sixth on the second Gresini entry.
Niccolo Antonelli leads off row three from seventh on the second SIC58 Squadra Corse bike, with Adam Norrodin lining up alongside him in eighth for Petronas and Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) snagging ninth. Toba completes the top ten for Honda Team Asia in a close session where all the top 19 were within a second of the pole time.
RBA’s Kazuki Masaki was the best of the rookies in eleventh, ahead of last years’ race winner Andrea Migno, who could only manage 15th with his best lap for the Angel Nieto Team.
John McPhee (CIP - Green Power) – who started the race last year from first after pole-sitter Martin was penalised – improved slightly on his last run to move up to 19th, as he found it hard to find clear air on a busy track.
Le Mans winner Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) also struggled to find the difference needed for the front of the grid and will start 22nd.
There are two Italian wild cards for Mugello - Manuel Pagliani returns with Leopard and starts 24th though was briefly as high as sixth, while Stefano Nepa (NRT Junior Team) makes his championship debut in 29th.
Nakarin Atiratphuvapat was the only faller in qualifying, hitting the back of Ayumu Sasaki while running in a group of four around the track. The Thai rider was ok, but the incident left him down in 28th.
