The Spaniard misses out on a late time attack but it proves to not be costly
The Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team’s Izan Guevara has held onto pole position at the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon in a nervous conclusion to Moto3™ Q2. Just 0.095 seconds separated the World Championship leader and Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max’s Ayumu Sasaki at the end of the session, when Guevara had been left vulnerable given he was too late to go for a final time attack and try to improve on his 1:57.868. On the other hand, his team-mate and nearest rival for the title, Sergio Garcia, continued to be shuffled back and is set to start 12th on Sunday at MotorLand Aragon.
A nervous finish for Guevara
Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had been quickest once everyone had been through for one flying lap in Q2, on a 1:58.027, before Sasaki responded with a 1:57.963 next time through. Guevara then clocked a 1:57.868 to be the pace-setter with five minutes to go, but the final time attacks still to come.
With the slipstream so important down Aragon’s back straight, there were the usual track position games at the start of the session and then again at the start of the final runs – even in terms of rolling bikes out of their boxes in pit lane, in some cases! Guevara left his run a little bit too late, however, and took the chequered flag before he had a chance to start another flying lap.
Fortunately for him, the first two rows did not change. Behind Guevara, Sasaki, and Holgado on the starting grid will be Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing), John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), and Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing). Suzuki managed a 1:58.271 on his first run and McPhee a 1:58.296, while Foggia improved to a 1:58.363 on his final lap to consolidate sixth position.
Rounding out the top 10 were Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team), Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team), and Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP). Q1 fast man Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) snatched 11th with the chequered flag out, while Garcia just got a spot on Row 4.
There was frustration for Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who blitzed FP3 but then pulled off the race track early in Q2 with an apparent technical problem. He and bike got back to the pits and while his KTM was eventually re-fired, it would be…