Moto3 Argentina: Pole position for Garcia after late scramble
Sergio Garcia set a new lap record as he took pole position ahead of round three of the Moto3 Championship in Argentina.
The Solunion GasGas Aspar rider, like the rest of the field, left it very late to leave the pits for their final run.
Sitting in fifth ahead of what became a one lap shootout for the top grid position, the nineteen year old found a slightly better position on track than his team-mate to top the timesheets with a new record lap of 1m 48.429s.
Ayumu Saskai also saved his best for qualifying as he flew under the radar before popping up late on to clinch second for Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, just 0.171s slower. The Japanese rider has a long lap penalty to serve in the race for his move which took Migno out of the race late on in Indonesia.
When bikes finally made it onto track for practice after the issues with freight which saw Friday’s action scrapped, the hot, dusty extended sessions were lead by Izan Guevara. The Aspar rider had looked set to finish Q2 on top but rode too hard, fading to third.
Riccardo Rossi, who just pushed his way into Q2 at the very end of the first qualifying session, made the most of his extended track time to take fourth for SIC58 Squadra Corse as top Honda.
Rookie Joel Kelso, who also graduated from Q1, lead for much of the session but was shuffled back to fifth as the chequered flag waved for CIP Green Power.
Daniel Holgado was another rookie unfazed by the unusual race weekend. He finished qualifying in sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Seventh went to Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) with Andrea Migno slotting into eighth on Sunday for Rivacold Snipers.
Tatsuki Suzuki was another experienced rider showing well when it mattered, he climbed to ninth for Leopard, with the last rider to start their fast lap, rookie Diogo Moreira completing the top ten.
Championship leader Dennis Foggia, who’s team were one of those affected by the missing cargo hardest, will line up next on the grid in eleventh in a session where he looked to be fighting to get the best performance from his Leopard.
Jaume Masia is the only previous winner in the pack, taking victory last time the paddock rolled into town in 2019. The experience did not help elevate the Spaniard further up the grid, qualifying twelfth.
Deniz Oncu was brave enough to leave the pits for his final run first and fly solo. The move didn’t pay off - he will sit his Red Bull KTM Tech3 in 16th for tomorrow’s race.
Indonesia’s pole -sitter Carlos Tatay could not repeat the feat and will line up 18th for CFMoto Racing PruestelGP.
Scott Ogden was the best of the Brits at VisionTrack Racing, after two crashes in the same practice session earlier in the day the eighteen year old rallied, but was knocked out of the progression places in the dying seconds of Q1, leaving him 19th on the grid. Joshua Whatley is 29th after his first fall of the season.
Taiyo Furusato made his qualifying debut. The dominant Asia Talent Cup winner had missed the first two races through injury - The Honda Team Asia rider starts 22nd after a moment on his final run in Q1 saw him lose a significant chunk of time.
John McPhee had hoped to be back on track at Termas but is still recovering from injury.
