Moto2 qualifying, Mandalika: Guevara puts on a show, Escrig springs a surprise

The second qualifying session in the middleweight World Championship class was preceded by a showcase performance from the Red Bull-KTM-Ajo team. After a mixed start on Friday, Collin Veijer and Jose-Antonio Rueda were on top of the timesheets in Q1. Much to the delight of Honda Asia, Taiyo Furusato secured third place and thus made it through to Q2. Fourth place was decided in rather curious circumstances. Joe Roberts (Kalex) and Luca Lunetta (Boscoscuro) were equally fast – with the better second-fastest lap, the ticket went to the American.

When the 18 Moto2 riders set off into the Q2 session shortly after 2 pm, the tarmac at the Mandalika Circuit was sizzling. With temperatures exceeding 55 degrees, last year’s figures were once again surpassed. One question: will the pool of pole-setters continue to expand? Across 16 events, eleven different riders have secured pole position.

The quiet favourite for pole position – Izan Guevara. Manuel Gonzalez’s closest rival in the World Championship had finished qualifying in P1 and won the last two Grand Prix races. But 17 riders had other ideas. After the first attempt at the fastest time, Forward rider Alex Escrig was at the top of the timesheets. The Spaniard was marginally faster than Ivan Ortola and Filip Salac. Behind them were Guevara and Senna Agius. Manuel Gonzalez finished ninth on his first attempt. After briefly showing a clear improvement, the Intact rider had to recover from a massive slide.

Alex Escrig führte bis zur Schlussoffensive und wurde Zweiter

Foto: Gold & Goose

Then all the riders headed into the pits to go one better with just over six minutes remaining. Whilst Guevara was well positioned in fourth place, Gonzalez was looking to improve on his time. The attempt seemed to be succeeding. Number 18 got a clear lap and was on course for a good time until Gonzalez went off the track. The lap was disallowed.

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WM-Leader Manuel Gonzalez (10.) erlebte kein gutes Qualifying

Foto: Gold & Goose

Izan Guevara fared better, becoming the first Moto2 rider to clock a 1:31 lap, thereby knocking Escrig off the top spot. On his next lap, Gonzalez managed to improve his time – moving up to 7th place. Sandwiched between the two title favourites were Escrig, Daniel Muñoz, Iván Ortola, Veijer and Arbolino. Then Alonso and López also squeezed in between them. Manuel Gonzalez managed another slight improvement, but in the end the championship leader could only manage 10th on the grid.

At the front, Guevara remained ahead of surprise contender Alex Escrig. David Alonso also made it onto the front row, 0.210 seconds behind Guevara. Behind them, Holgado, Muñoz and Ortola will line up on Sunday. Collin Veijer, the fastest rider in Q1, secured 8th on the grid. Senna Agius could only manage 14th place in the brief battle in the heat.

The lap times set by Fantic ace Barry Baltus were irrelevant. Following a penalty for repeated lazing about, the Belgian will have to start from the very back of the grid on Sunday.