Mixed weather conditions and the notoriously difficult Red Bull Ring has big names suffering in Q1 while new names leave it all on the track.
Q1
As we return back from the five week summer break session, big names set out to make their way up to Q2.
Some of the huge and surprising names in Q1 are Tatsuki Suzuki, Romano Fenati, Dennis Foggia, Gabriel Rodrigo, and more. There are also some returning players, like Lorenzo Fellon, who was out due to injury.
Right as the session begins, the Honda Team Asia group and David Salvador head out to work on their times. The other riders are seemingly waiting for the last few minutes to make a hard push. As soon as the Leopard Racing Team moved to begin their session with 7:30 minutes left, others followed.
Like most tracks on the latter end of the season, the Red Bull Ring is a difficult track to race on. Due to its long straights, bikes like the Leopard Racing Team has a slight advantage. Riders on bikes that don’t excel in those conditions need to push harder, which can wear out tires and themselves. Much like what we saw in MotoGP last season, it can also be a dangerous track, if not raced on properly.
With 4:00 minutes remaining, Suzuki takes the top position, followed by Fenati, Yamanaka and Foggia are the riders that are headed up to Q2. The top four in the session will advance up. It is almost guaranteed that there is going to be a battle until the last second.
At the beginning of the last flying lap, Rodrigo and Artigas replace Yamanaka and Foggia. Artigas is currently swapping the pack lead with Yamanaka, Foggia using that as an advantage to take the top spot in Q1.
This leaves major riders down at the back for the race tomorrow. But, as we have seen, where Moto3 riders qualify is not nearly as detrimental to their race as it is in other levels.
The riders moving up to Q2 are: Fenati, Foggia, Rodrigo and Suzuki.
Q2
Unlike the Q1 session, riders immediately head out to begin their session. For many of these riders, everything is on the line. Ahead of renewing teams, which happens around the San Marino GP, they need to be at their best. During this time teams will also put out who they want on their bikes. While riders like Foggia, Migno and Alcoba don’t necessarily need to worry, they all want to be first choice.
When the times first come in, Antonelli takes the top time with Foggia and Garcia following.
Rookie Ivan Guevara is also showing some teeth by taking an early lead in the top four, showing nothing but improvements.
He takes top time one lap later.
On the other hand, Antonelli has a gnarly crash out of the lead with no hopes of joining back. This early in the session, all he can hope for is that he isn’t in the bottom of the field.
While these riders are not high on the timesheets, Oncu and Sasaki are riders to look out for in the race. Last season, they could have been topping the podium if it were not for the incident that occurred.
With 4:00 minutes remaining, Pedro Acosta takes pole position. He has not been in pole before, usually taking his extraordinary wins from the back of the grid. Again- the grid doesn’t make much of a difference, but pole position would certainly be helpful.
With his last flying lap, and on pole position, Garcia crashes out hard and takes a hit on the leg.
But as he is crashing out, Oncu takes pole position.
The Moto3 grid will be headed by Deniz Oncu and followed by Sergio Garcia and Romano Fenati.
The grid is promising action ahead of the possibly wet race, tomorrow. Who will take the win?
And will a new star rise in Moto3?
Tune in tomorrow to find out.
