Moto3 Qatar: Guevara leaves rivals in the dust for first pole position
Izan Guevara kept out of trouble and found the right position on track to secure the maiden pole position of the season ahead of the Moto3 Qatar Grand Prix, the first pole of his world championship career.
Though early season favourite Foggia lead both FP1 and FP3 where there were few improvements to be had, it was the Gaviota GasGas Aspar who had finished Friday fastest.
Down in eleventh as the chequered flag came out after his first run, The Spaniard had been released from the pits with his team-mate for company and found himself able to slot in behind Jaume Masia and benefit in the run to the line, placing one position higher than his second in the opening race of 2021.
The number 28 finished with the fastest lap of the weekend so far, a best of 2m 04.811s. His final flier deposed Ayumu Sasaki who had lead for most of the session with his early banker lap as the rest of the field tripped over each other. The Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing rider was just 0.085s slower in second.
Sasaki had needed to come through Q1 first, leading a trio of rookies into Q2, joined by Ivan Ortola, Daniel Holgado and Matteo Bertelle.
The final front row space will be filled by Jaume Masia after late gains were made by the Red Bull KTM Ajo man. The Spaniard has the best form of the remaining Moto3 riders at Lusail winning the first round and qualifying on pole for the Doha Moto3 Grand Prix last year.
Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers) climbed to fourth, with Dennis Foggia fifth for Leopard after some controversial weaving on his final run which affected many of his rivals.
Ryusei Yamanaka slipped to sixth for MT Helmets- MSI, just ahead of John McPhee.
The British rider immediately looked a good fit following his move to Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing and after the opening day where he was second overall, a little returned assistance from team-mate Sasaki helped him to seventh.
Sergio Garcia held on to eighth for Aspar after he too appeared to weave around the track, while Tatsuki Suzuki dropped to ninth on the second Leopard entry.
Ortola went on to be the top rookie in the session, showing enough pace to complete the top ten for Angeluss MTA Team, ahead of more seasoned lightweight class riders with Carlos Tatay shuffeld back to eleventh on the CFMoto entry and Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) only managing to post the twelfth best time.
Holgado’s last Q1 lap pushed Stefano Nepa out of contention to progress to Q2. The Angeluss MTA rider finished the session fifth, for 19th on the grid, while the Spaninsh teenager went on to claim 15th.
Just behind him on his first world championship outing, Scott Ogden impressed. Riding for Michael Laverty’s VisionTrack team he finished just two hundreths short of a Q2 shot on his first attempt and will line up 20th. His team-mate, sixteen year-old Joshua Whatley was 29th.
Ana Carrasco continued her readjustment to Moto3 machinery. Late improvements saw her move up to 12th in the session, 26th overall, but much closer to the pace required.
Japanese rookie Taiyo Furusato misses the opening weekend following his testing crash.
