Dennis Foggia claimed his second pole in three races, and of his career, as the Leopard’s 1’48.290 set the standard in Moto3 at Barcelona on Saturday.
A double dose saw Deniz Öncü in second aboard the Tech3 KMT with Valresa GasGas Aspar’s Izan Guevara completing the front row.
Honda Team Asia’s Mario Aji set the reference pace as the Q1 session began with a 1’49.873, rookie Taiyo Furusato making it a team one-two with Avintia’s Elia Bartolini and wildcard Syarifuddin Azman completing the top four by the half way stage.
VisionTrack’s regular riders Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley were yet to set a time due to track limits with six minutes to go. Riccardo Rossi topping the times with Xavi Artigas slotting into third ahead of the final push.
Ogden’s third attempt saw the Brit hold P1 with a 1’49.389 as Whatley yet again had his lap time deleted. Ryusei Yamanaka placing the MT Helmets KTM into third with Aji dropped to fourth. Whatley's session went from bad to worse as he crashed out at turn five before Ogden did likewise at turn three next time around.
Kaito Toba claimed second in the final seconds with Rossi consolidating his promotion in third. Yamanaka in the pits but lucky to cling on to the final spot as the session concluded without further improvements. Ogden facing a race against the clock to get his machine back in the pits and repaired in time for Q2.
Foggia hit the ground running as Q2 fired up with a 1’48.292. Rossi and John McPhee claiming the provision front row from the second Leopard of Tatsuki Suzuki. Ogden straight back in the pits after an exploratory lap in the opening minutes.
Suzuki improved to third to lockout the front row for Honda with eight minutes to go. Sic58’s Lorenzo Fellon and KTM Ajo’s Jaume Masia completing the top six ahead of the Rivacold Snipers of Andrea Migno, Toba, Aspar’s Sergio Garcia and Yamanaka before Guevara arrived to second at the halfway stage.
Ogden returned to the action for the final push. Foggia increasing his benchmark with a 1’48.290 but meeting to the flag to prevent another go. Carlos Tatay crashed the PruestelGP out at turn six with Masia down at turn 12 on a red flyer with yellow flags out the final sector on the last shots.
Missing the chaos, Öncü promoted the Tech3 KTM to second with Guevara clinching the final front row place in third. Fellon, Yamanaka and Rossi claimed second row starts for Sunday’s race ahead of Garcia and the Green Power duo of Toba and Joel Kelso. Suzuki headed McPhee and Bertelle in 10th to 12th with Ogden 13th. Masia, Migno, David Salvador, Daniel Holgado and Tatay completed the top 18.
