Moto3 Misano: Martin produces record pace for pole
Jorge Martin found a way through track traffic to claim pole in qualifying for the Moto3 Grand Prix at Misano.
The Gresini rider sat out FP3 earlier in the day as the World Circuit Marco Simoncelli remained damp as he continues to manage the pain from his wrist break, but returned to action with blistering pace in qualifying to claim his seventh pole of the season.
Martin had already broken the lap record and claimed provisional pole on his previous flying lap, before returning to smash it again when the chequered flag waved.
The Spanish rider is aiming to reduce his championship deficit of 12 points to leader Marco Bezzecchi having been denied the opportunity last time out at Silverstone following the cancellation of all races due to safety concerns.
His best of 1m 41.823s saw the Honda rider soar ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo, who topped the times after his best lap, which led to a crash at the first one directly after he set it aboard his RBA KTM.
The front row is completed by Aron Canet, who was propelled up the standings by his final run for Estrella Galicia 0,0.
Fabio Di Giannantonio also improved to put his Del Conca Gresini in fourth just ahead of compatriot Enea Bastianini in fifth for Leopard.
The all-Italian second row is completed by Bezzecchi, a true local who lives just minutes from the track, but struggled to match title rival Martin to drop from a front row start to sixth place as he struggled to find space on track in the final seconds of the session.
Nicolo Bulega worked hard with team-mate Dennis Foggia to climb to seventh for Sky Racing Team VR46. He finished qualifying just ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard) in eighth and Jakub Kornfeil, who took the flag with on the second Redox PruestelGP, before having his lap cancelled for exceeding track limits at turn 16 which dropped him down to ninth place in the final qualifying results.
The top ten was completed by Ayumu Sasaki for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) was the best of the rookies as he overcame the bike reliability issues that plagued his Friday to take 11th.
At the SIC58 Squadra Corse team’s home grand prix Niccolo Antonelli will start 15th with Tatsuki Suzuki one place behind in 16th.
Kevin Zannoni (TM Racing Factory 3570 MTA) was the best of the wildcard entries and impressed again on his way to 18th on his grand prix qualifying debut, with Yari Montella (SIC58 Squadra Corse) 28th.
Philipp Oettl ( Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) was the only other faller in the session, in a huge off at turn one, ending up in the gravel at turn two, and after recovering said he could not remember his fall, casting doubt on whether he will race tomorrow after qualifying 24th.
An early mechanical issue halted John McPhee’s progress- the CIP-Green Power will start down in 25th on the grid.
