German Moto3: Sasaki demolishes lap record and opposition for pole position

Ayumu Sasaki was peerless as he smashed his own lap record to take pole position in qualifying for the German Moto3 race at the Sachsenring, round seven of the championship.

Lisa Lewis

17 Jun 2023

Ayumu Sasaki, Moto3, German MotoGP, 16 June

Ayumu Saskai arrived in blistering form, setting a new all time lap record in the very first practice session. With both second practice and Saturday morning’s P3 wet affairs nobody went faster than the Husqvarna rider before qualifying for the German Moto3 Grand Prix.

The Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider was already ahead of the pack after several strong solo laps and watched in the pits as Deniz Oncu attempted to match his pace but fell just short.

Back out on track, the Japanese rider had a group of riders down the track to chase and he only got quicker, finishing with the first 1m 25s lap of Sachsenring.

His 1m 25.130s lap was a huge lap record again, with nobody able to touch the #71 bike.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Oncu came closest - but even that was a massive 1.092s short - such was Sasaki’s dominance.

The Italian GP polesitter, who came tantalisingly close to his first win last time out,had a medical check after a huge fall on Friday, which sent him flying in P2 and left him holding his arm, later to be given the all-clear by the medical centre. Back on track it ewas the third sector that was his undoing, unable to match his rivals pace.

Oncu finished the session with two unseen incidents under investigation, one with Andrea Migno and one involving David Munoz.

The duo are joined on the front row by title challenger Ivan Ortola who climbed up to third late on for the Angeluss MTA Team.

Sasaki was doing his teammate a huge favour, letting Colin Veijer in his tow elevated the rider from the Netherlands - his best ever qualifying result. The pair celebrated with handshakes and high fives.

BOE Motorsports rider Munoz spent much of the session last without a time to his name before a big rally on his return from injury saw him up to fifth.

The second row of the grid is competed by Jaume Masia for Leopard as the top Honda.

Championship leader Daniel Holgado will start seventh, losing out in the late rush for Red Bull KTM Tech 3.

Kaito Toba towed his way to eight for SIC 58 Squadra Corse, with Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets MSI) and Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) completing the top ten.

Xavier Artigas lead the way in the wet P3 earlier in the day, which was an indication of the form he’d show in qualifying, coming through Q1 he went on tot twelfth, just behind fellow graduate Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia).

What happened in Q1?

David Munoz topped the session, with Artigas, Furusato and Filippo Fariloli (18th) also moving on.

There was an early red flag in the session as Scott Ogden highsided over his VisionTrack bike at turn three as he was stuck on the track with bikes approaching.

Restarting with ten minutes left on the clock, The #17 finished without a time, as did fellow faller Lorenzo Salvador. Teammate Joshua Whatley was shadowing Romano Fenati in the session as the first pair back on track.

However, Fenati failed to make the most of his early pace, with both getting their best laps cancelled, leaving the Italian 24th on the grid with the Brit in 26th.

Injuries and replacements

Munoz makes his return from injury, but plenty of Moto3 riders remain out of action.

Lorenzo Fellon remains a long term absentee, Andrea Migno (14th) is back in at CIP Green Power in his place.

Adrian Fernandez (25th) makes a return to the championship to fill in for Tatsuki Suzuki at Leopard after his fall at Mugello left him with broken bones in his foot and hand.

Syariffudin Azman has Daniel Sharil (28th) keeping his seat warm at MT Helmets-MSI, it is a world championship debut for the Malaysian.

There is an additional rider on the grid with Thai rider Tatchakorn Busari (27th) putting in a wildcard performance at Honda Team Asia.