It’s another Red Bull KTM Ajo 1-2 as World Championship leader Remy Gardner secured his second pole position of the season in Moto2™ qualifying at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the Australian’s 1:42.977 was enough to fend off teammate Raul Fernandez by 0.158s. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) bags his second front row of the year in third. The duo are proving incredibly difficult to beat in 2021 and their superiority was on show again on Saturday afternoon in Barcelona. Gardner and Raul Fernandez exchanged P1 a couple of times in Moto2™ Q2, before Gardner cemented top spot with that 1:42s lap record as he stretched his advantage to over a tenth from 0.036s. The electric pairing seems to have an edge on everyone at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Bendsneyder 0.265s behind second place Fernandez. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) grabbed his best qualifying finish of the season in P4 on home turf, the Spaniard has had good pace all weekend and is eying a first rostrum since the 2019 San Marino GP. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) bounced back from a huge Turn 4 highside in FP3 to claim P5 in Q2, Xavi Vierge’s (Petronas Sprinta Racing) last lap placed the Spaniard on the outside of Row 2 in P6. Rookie Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) continues to impress and will lead Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) from Row 3, the British rider starts P8 – his worst qualifying of the season. Lowes is in an Idemitsu Honda Team Asia sandwich because Somkiat Chantra lines up P9, that’s his best Saturday result of the campaign. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) – like Lowes – endures his worst qualifying of the season and has work to do from P10.
Make sure you’re tuning into the Moto2™ race at a later time than usual – 14:30 local time (GMT+2).
#64 Bo Bendsneyder – P3 – 1’43.400
“It was a really great day. This morning the target was to be in the top14 and to be directly in the Q2. Like I said yesterday, we know which way we have to go so we were confident to make a good lap time this morning. We did a good one, not perfect but it was good enough for P5. After that, we just focused on race pace because the race is long and it is important to have a good pace. In qualifying is like always: you have to push to the limit and you can’t miss a little bit. In the end, I made a perfect lap, all sectors fast. I want to thank the team and sponsors that support me always. After this day we have to focus for tomorrow because is the most important and this is what come”.
Results Q1 & Q2 combined:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
1 | Remy GARDNER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’42.977 |
2 | Raul FERNANDEZ | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’43.135 |
3 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team | 1’43.400 |
4 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | 1’43.501 |
5 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’43.566 |
6 | Xavi VIERGE | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’43.567 |
7 | Ai OGURA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’43.609 |
8 | Sam LOWES | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | 1’43.693 |
9 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’43.716 |
10 | Marco BEZZECCHI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’43.738 |
11 | Aron CANET | Inde Aspar Team | 1’43.774 |
12 | Jorge NAVARRO | MB Conveyors Speed Up | 1’43.904 |
13 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’44.031 |
14 | Tony ARBOLINO | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’44.063 |
15 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’44.102 |
16 | Nicolò BULEGA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’44.158 |
17 | Joe ROBERTS | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’44.346 |
18 | Marcos RAMIREZ | American Racing | 1’44.498 |
19 | Hector GARZO | Flexbox HP40 | 1’43.926 |
20 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’43.934 |
21 | Albert ARENAS | Inde Aspar Team | 1’44.055 |
22 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’44.076 |
23 | Thomas LUTHI | Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team | 1’44.098 |
24 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’44.321 |
25 | Celestino VIETTI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’44.335 |
26 | Barry BALTUS | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’44.409 |
27 | Stefano MANZI | Flexbox HP40 | 1’44.528 |
28 | Cameron BEAUBIER | American Racing | 1’44.720 |
29 | Alonso LOPEZ | MB Conveyors Speed Up | 1’45.463 |
30 | Keminth KUBO | VR46 Master Camp Team | 1’45.535 |
31 | Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI | Pertamina Mandalika SAG Euvic | 1’45.914 |
32 | Jake DIXON | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’50.609 |
Source: motogp.com, stopandgo.es