Sepang: Daniel Holgado outclassed the Moto2 field in qualifying

The top 14 from Friday’s Moto2 free practice session go straight through to Qualifying 2 on Saturday, whilst everyone else must go via Q1. From there, the fastest four progress, whilst the rest will line up on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix (starting at 6.15 am CET) from 19th place onwards.

Seven of the top 10 in the World Championship secured direct entry into Q2; Filip Salac, Celestino Vietti and David Alonso had to go via Q1, but managed to get through. In addition to this trio, Alex Escrig progressed to Q2, lapping an astonishing 0.287 seconds faster than the runner-up and setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far with a time of 2:03.459 minutes.

By way of comparison: in Friday’s qualifying session, Manuel Gonzalez from the Memmingen-based Intact team had set the fastest time of 2:03.737 minutes, but this was still well above Daniel Holgado’s lap record (2:02.858 minutes) from the previous year.

WM-Spitzenreiter Manuel Gonzalez fuhr auf Startzplatz 9

Foto: Gold and Goose

As early as the first flying lap of Q2, Holgado clocked 2:03.355 minutes, whilst Vietti ended up in the gravel trap. With the track temperature now at 50 degrees Celsius, the final push for the fastest time began five minutes before the end of the 15-minute session. Holgado improved the fastest time to 2:02.875 mins, missing his own lap record by a hair’s breadth and finishing more than half a second ahead of the runner-up! No one else came close to this time, with Angel Piqueras and Izan Guevara qualifying alongside him on the front row.

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This gives Guevara, who is now just five points behind Gonzalez in the overall standings, a massive advantage. The World Championship leader will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from the third row of the grid; following his crash on Friday, he is complaining of pain in his right foot. Although Intact team manager Jürgen Lingg emphasises just how tough Gonzalez is, even the Allgäu native cannot predict how the injury will affect him in the gruelling Grand Prix under the tropical heat.

The second row of the grid is made up of David Alonso, Alonso Lopez and the Dutchman Collin Veijer. Escrig will start the race from seventh on the grid, flanked by David Munoz and Gonzalez. Senna Agius, the second Intact rider, finished twelfth.