Moto3 Portimao: Migno powers to pole position in Portugal
Andrea Migno was ahead of the pack after free practice and continued his form to record a new fastest pole lap in the Algarve and claim the top spot on the grid for the Moto3 Portimao Grand Prix, round three of the championship.
Migno lead for much of the session on his Rivacold Snipers Honda, then lowered his own best as the chequered flag waved to set pole with a 1m 47.423s best - faster than Raul Fernandez pole time from 2020 but not quite beating Jaume Masia’s lap record.
Dennis Foggia will sit in second - just 0.149s slower as he crossed the line for Leopard. Foggia impressed last year in Portugal when he enjoyed a battle to the line with Jeremy Alcoba, taking second.
The final front row slot went to Gresini’s Alcoba, but he will not fill the position following his battle off-track with John McPhee in Doha.
Following Pedro Acosta’s sensational victory from pit lane, the sanctions for both McPhee and Alcoba are tougher - both will start from pit lane but McPhee has an additional 10 second delay, Alcoba five for his part in their tussle.
Finishing fourth for GasGas Valresa Aspar in the session, Sergio Garcia should be elevated to third ahead of the race.
Gabriel Rodrigo set the fifth best time in the session on the second Gresini entry despite a late incident involving Filip Salac which saw them both finish qualifying in the gravel.
John McPhee is also without his crew chief for the weekend, with virtual video links set up to relay advice instead. The British rider was sixth for Petronas Sprinta Racing before his demotion on Sunday.
Deniz Oncu moved up the timesheets late on to take seventh, the top performing KTM in the session. The Turkish rider was helped up the order further by Darryn Binder having his final lap, which was at the time good enough for sixth, cancelled. The Pertonas rider was shuffled back to eighth.
Xavier Artigas was the best qualifying rookie in ninth for Leopard, while Ayumu Sasaki showed enough pace after moving up from Q1 with the time from his first flying lap in that session to complete the top ten for Red Bull KTM Tech 3.
Early championship leader Acosta left the pits with everyone except Fenati and Artigas in pursuit. The teenager has not flourished in qualifying yet this season and Portimao has not been the exception.
Eleventh in the first Qatar race, then ninth before being handed a pit lane start, this time out he will slot into twelfth, just behind his Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Jaume Masia, who had his last lap scratched off.
Romano Fenati trusted in his own abilities - running solo and on a different schedule from the pack to move into Q2 with the best time.
The Sterilgarda Max Racing Team rider continued his plan into the next qualifying session to try and keep his laps clean after earning penalties in the first two rounds - but his turnaround in attitude was not rewarded. The Italian caught the slow riders ahead touring on the racing line and could not find a way around cleanly leaving him gesticulating wildly in anger - and 14th on the grid.
Carlos Tatay believed he was automatically advancing to Q2 but a late lap cancellation after the FP3 session concluded saw Izan Guevara take his place. Guevara went on to take 15th for Aspar. Avintia's Tatay will start back in 24th after failing to move up from Q1.
Niccolo Antonelli mis-timed his final run and arrived at the chequered flag too late, leaving him 17th for Avintia Esponsorama.
Lorenzo Fellon, the youngest rider in the paddock, tried his luck following the experienced Kaito Toba in Q1. The Japanese rider suffered a late fall at turn five which sees him line up in 21st on Sunday. Fellon lost his gains and will line up last on the grid unless further demotions are applied before the race.
