Americas Moto3: Masia denies Sasaki treble with pole position in Austin
It was hard to get a time on the board in a crash-filled session, as yellow flags dominated the long lap with Jaume Masia holding on at the top of the timesheets for pole in qualifying for the Moto3 Americas Grand Prix, the third round of the championship.
Jaume Masia slotted in behind the two bikes ahead and set the pole time on just his second lap of the track - a 2m 16.250s.
The Leopard rider won the Texas round last year on a KTM, but proved he is just as handy around COTA on a Honda as he skipped all the yellow flags and cancelled laps to come out on top.
Sasaki grabbed the first two poles on offer and arrived with the best time coming into qualifying, from the faster P2 session.
A hat-trick of poles was not to be. His best run was cancelled as he passed a fallen Kaito Toba, dropping him back to fifteenth. Now out of sync with the rest of the riders and with little time left on the clock, the Husqvarna rider opted to stay out on track. His plan paid off as he chipped away at his time to finish just 0.101s behind at the chequered flag.
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Izan Ortola had been on the pace all weekend and looked especially confident around the bumpy, pitted track in the dry.
That promise came to fruition as he followed his Angeluss MTA Team orders to drop behind the riders following him to claim third on his next time around the track, benefiting from the drag in front. Third equalls the #48’s best qualifying result to date.
Championship leader Daniel Holgado is yet to feature on the front row, but will look again to make his mark on Sunday, this time from fifth, despite an early fall.
Stefano Nepa takes the final slot on the second row, sixth best in qualifying on the second Angeluss entry.
Ryusei Yamanaka came through Q1 with the fourth best time and kept motoring, using his track time to move up to seventh for the Valresa GasGas team.
Matteo Bertelle was running in the biggest group on track but couldn’t find a tow and capitalise, so the Rivacold Snipers rider starts eighth.
Q1’s top rider Xavier Atrigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) was ninth and Tatsuki Suzuki, who got caught almost racing on track rival David Munoz, completed the top ten for Leopard.
Jose Antonio Rueda was back in action falling his practice fall and showed no ill effects from his tumble. Straight to Q2, the rookie took to COTA instantly and kept that form into qualifying, 11th Red Bull KTM Ajo.
He was the best of the rookies but only just with David Salvador, who rode at the track in 2022 just behind in eleventh for CIP Green Power.
Deniz Oncu was on a fast final run when he joined the other fallers in the session, that left him 14th for Red Bull KTM.
Munoz, Riccardo Rossi and Q1 graduate Syarifuddin Azman all failed to get a time on the board through a mixture of bike issues, falls and cancelled laps.
What happened in Q1?
Xavier Artigas eased through, with Azman, Salvador and Yamanaka joining him.
It looked like is was to be Scott Ogden versus Filippo Farioli (20th -Red Bull KTM Tech3) for the final progression spot but both were bested by final laps from David Salvador and Ryusei Yamanaka.
Ogden had fallen, a front end fold at turn one, but opted to risk not returning to the pits due to the shortness of the session and length of the lap. He lines up 23rd, with VisionTrack teammate Joshua Whatley 28th.
There was also a Q1 crash for Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly IntactGp - 21st)
Injuries and Replacements
David Almansa returns again to deputise at CFMoto for Joel Kelso as he continues his recovery from his Portimao crash. He suffered his own fall in Q1 - with no time set if fit he will join the grid in last.
Also returning, Andrea Migno (25th) continues to make the most of his championship return, in for Lorenzo Fellon at CIP Green Power. The Italian took pole at the track last season.
