Moto3 Styria: Rodrigo claims late pole position
Gabriel Rodrigo saw his final lap elevate him to pole position as Moto3 returns to the Red Bull Ring for the Styria Grand Prix.
The Kommerling Gresini Honda rider found improved pace as the session drew to a close with his final flying lap of 1m 36.470s enough to secure the top spot on the grid.
It is the Argentinian riders first pole since Catalunya last season.
Polesitter at Austria last weekend Raul Fernandez this time had to settle for second for Red Bull KTM Ajo. The Spaniard was just 0.012s slower.
Tatsuki Suzuki also saved his best for last to complete the front row for SIC58 Squadra Corse.
Tony Arbolino holds the record at the Red Bull Ring but couldn’t match that pace, finishing fourth for Rivacold Snipers after having his best lap cancelled.
Celestino Vietti came into qualifying fastest after the three practice sessions and was sitting at the top of the timesheets as the final fast laps started, he finished the session fifth for Sky Racing Team VR46.
John McPhee was the pole man back in 2019 and a front row starter at the track last week - This time the British Rider was sixth for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Dennis Foggia will line up seventh for Leopard Racing. He is joined on row three by Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura in eighth and championship leader and Austria winner, Albert Arenas, who will fill ninth on the grid for Valresa Aspar.
Darryn Binder qualified highest of the Q1 graduates in tenth for CIP Green Power.
Deniz Oncu was the best of the rookies in eleventh on the second Red Bull entry. His main rival Jeremy Alcoba starts 14th for Gresini.
Leopard’s Jaume Masia had a late crash in Q1 which saw him gloveless trying to get his bike running. With the faring pulled off he returned to the pits. Oil spilling from his bike caused Davide Pizzoli and Andrea Migno to fall after the flag.
Although Masia finished Q1 top he was suspended from Q2 for irresponsible riding. Fifth place Ayumu Sasaki wasn’t promoted to the session either and remains 19th on the grid.
Migno had struggled without his Sky Racing teammate to use as a marker and will start 22nd. He had already had a trip into the gravel with home rider Maximilian Kofler, collecting the Austrian when trying to overtake on the inside, ending up underneath him.
Romano Fenati fared slightly better than his 30th on the grid last week, the 2019 winner will this time line up 21st.
Khairul Idham Pawi misses the race weekend due to his ongoing finger injury.
