The Italian earns a big opportunity to reignite his title hopes at Misano
The Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s Celestino Vietti has held on to the Moto2™ pole position at the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini despite a late crash. The Italian was sitting on a 1:35.996 with the chequered flag out on Q2 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli when he lost the front at Turn 8, but no one was able to steal pole off him.
Vietti will share the front row with Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) and Alonso Lopez (+Ego Speed Up) in a top three covered by just under two tenths of a second. Importantly, he is two rows ahead of the two riders ahead of him in the World Championship, namely Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo).
The fastest two laps for Vietti
After the drama of MotoGP™ qualifying, a dry track greeted the intermediate class field for their Q1 session and remained that way for Q2. Vietti completed just one flying lap before returning to the pits, while Arenas moved almost three tenths clear of the field when he set a 1:36.189 halfway into the session.
Vietti closed the gap when he came back out and clocked a 1:36.330, then moved to the very top with a 1:35.996 next time through. Arenas was also setting red sectors and followed the VR46 pilot across the line in a time of 1:36.097 to at least tighten his grip on a front row berth, before Free Practice pace-setter Lopez jumped from 17th to third on a 1:36.186. Vietti threatened to go even faster when he achieved what would be the second-fastest lap of the session with a 1:36.025, before the spill on his final flyer, but it would not prove costly – rider okay.
Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) grabbed fourth spot, ahead of Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team), the latter of whom topped Q1 on his way to claiming a berth on Row 2. There will be plenty of attention on Row 3, and while seventh is another solid qualifying result for 17-year-old Spaniard Fermin Aldeguer (+Ego Speed Up) – even if he too crashed at Turn 8 – the greater interest is about the two men who will line up alongside him. Championship leader Ogura qualified eighth on a 1:36.489 and the rider who now trails him by a single point, Fernandez, earned ninth on a…