Moto3 Austria: Fenati on fire for pole position
Romano Fenati bounced back to his old form to claim pole position for the Moto3 Austrian Grand Prix, round eleven of the championship.
The VNE Snipes rider used his track time wisely - coming through Q1 and using his experience on the hot, sticky track to find the perfect slipstream behind Kaito Toba and both Leopard bikes as the chequered flag waved.
His best lap of 1m36.466s aboard the Honda used all of the track and gave him his first Moto3 pole since his return to the class.
Ayumu Sasaki also had strong pace in the final group of friders heading to the line for second, just 0.051s slower than the Italian on his best lap, improving from tenth for Petronas Sprinta racing as he aims to minimise his penalty - he and fellow countryman Ai Ogura both received a twelve place grid demotion for irresponsible riding in FP2.
Jaume Masia will slip up a place from the third he gained in qualifying - the Bester Capital Dubai rider topped Q1 and kept the performance running for a front row start, the Spaniard was also the top qualifying KTM.
John McPhee had been the rider to displace at the top of the timesheets as he set about putting in some stunning solo laps while the rest of the pack tangled for track space. His lap was still good enough for fourth on the second Petronas entry.
Ogura (Honda Team Asia) was fifth and the best rookie pre-penalty, with his team-mate Toba sixth.
Their compatriot Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) took the flag in seventh, while Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), who set a new lap record in FP3, could not match that pace as the temperature rose, leaving him eighth at the close of the session. Lorenzo Dalla Porta was the best of the title rivals in ninth for Leopard - championship leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) had his strategy ruined by a bike issue at the start of the session, leaving him out of sync with the rest of the paddock and down in 14th.
Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) had enough pace to crack the top ten, displacing Celestino Vietti, who had been fastest on Friday and was an early adopter of riding solo in Q2 following an early off, before being shuffled back to eleventh.
Niccolo Antonelli, who impressed in Brno when he came from pitlane following a problem on the grid to be in contention for the win on his way to fifth, will need to put in a comeback performance of sorts again after qualifying twelfth for SIC58 Squadra Corse.
At Gresini, Jeremy Alcoba replaces Gabriel Rodrigo, who has had surgery on his injuries between races, he placed 24th.
Deniz Oncu returns for his second wildcard entry - The Red Bull rider starts just one place behind his brother Can in 29th. Fellow wildcard Max Kofler (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) fared slightly better in 27th.
The CIP Green Power bikes struggled in qualifying. Darryn Binder qualified in 30th and Tom Booth-Amos 31st.
Binder has been moved to the back of the grid for riding slowly in FP2, while Alonso Lopez (18th in qualifying) will start from the back of the grid after shoving his team-mate Sergio Garcia following their Brno crash.
