A P1 start could be just the tonic the Briton needs to end a frustrating run in Moto2™
Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Sam Lowes has claimed the Moto2™ pole position at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland by a solid, 0.272-second margin. In scorching conditions at the Sachsenring, the Briton went as quick as a 1:23.493 to give himself the best possible chance of ending a run of six rounds in a row without points. The GASGAS Aspar Team’s Albert Arenas was second-fastest in Q2 and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Augusto Fernandez got himself onto the front row too, while World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) made Row 3.
Arenas was quickest out of the blocks in Q2 when he set a 1:23.765 and that was still best until, just after the 10-minute mark, Lowes jumped from eighth position to first with a time that was less than a tenth away from Raul Fernandez’s year-old All Time Lap Record. Augusto Fernandez, who had been relatively rapid in Friday practice and top three in FP3, then claimed third spot with a 1:23.825.
It was Britons first and fourth, and GASGAS Aspar Team entries second and fourth, thanks to Jake Dixon. He was quickest of those who came from Q1 with a 1:23.897 on his first flying lap in Q2, while German Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) qualified fifth-fastest for his home event on a 1:23.913. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) is looking to go one better than he did a fortnight ago to finally get that maiden Moto2™ race win, and sixth is a handy place to launch from after the Spaniard set a 1:23.973. Next on the timesheet was Q1 graduate Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) on a 1:24.091.
Vietti turns the tables on Ogura
One of the interesting points to note from FP3 was that Vietti was bumped into Q1 when the rider who is currently his nearest rival for the title, Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), pinched 14th late in that session. However, the VR46 rider comfortably made his way out of the first stanza of qualifying to ultimately claim eighth on the starting grid. It is hardly a repeat of his Q1-to-P1 heroics in Catalunya, when Vietti then converted that pole into a race win, but he will start a full two rows ahead of Ogura in Germany having set a 1:24.130 in Q2.
Americans Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing)…