The Honda Team Asia rider makes an even bigger hero of himself in front of the Thai crowd
Somkiat Chantra has become the first Thai rider to qualify on pole position in Grand Prix history, and what better place to do it than at the OR Thailand Grand Prix? In a big afternoon for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, Chantra not only secured pole with his 1:35.625, but its Moto2™ World Championship hope Ai Ogura qualified third-fastest. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) splits those two on the front row at the Chang International Circuit while Championship leader Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) will line up on the middle of Row 3 on Sunday afternoon.
The Thais star in Buriram
Two Thai riders started Q2 and the home fans were sent into raptures when Chantra went to the top with a 1:35.625 on his first flying lap. That effort had him three tenths clear of the field and the gap was still more than two tenths when Arbolino consolidated second position with a 1:35.839 next time through. ‘Tiger Tony’ got even closer a couple of laps later when he set a 1:35.710, before a big save when the front wheel of his motorcycle started to fold at Turn 1.
Meanwhile, Ogura, who Arbolino had used as a reference, had crept up to third with a 1:35.973 and then improved to a 1:35.889 in the final four minutes of the session. That effort would prove crucial in the battle for a front row berth when Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) clocked a 1:35.956 to climb to fourth, where he would remain. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) came from Q1 to qualify fifth on a 1:35.973, with Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) also making it onto Row 2 on a 1:35.987.
Seventh went to Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) on a 1:36.106 and Fernandez set a 1:36.130 to qualify eighth, ahead of Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™), Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), and Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) in 14th.
How the rest of the grid looks
There was a dramatic incident halfway through Q2 involving Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team). Replays suggested that Arenas lost the front of his bike before it slid into the machine of the unfortunate American….