Moto3 Sachsenring: Guevara back on record pace for pole in Germany

Izan Guevara continued his electric pace into qualifying as he bettered his own record lap on the way to pole position ahead of the Moto3 German Grand Prix, round ten of the championship.

The Aspar GasGas rider continued from where he left off on home soil at the last round, circulating solo and topping FP3 with a new lap record of the Saxony track.

Attacking qualifying in the same way the Spaniard was left in the tricky position of having no time set for much of the session after Jaume Masia’s crash saw his early fast lap cancelled.

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The #28 didn’t panic and stuck to the plan, returning in the closing minutes for a 1m 25.869s record performance, running into the gravel at turn one immediately after.

The session was tough for all the teams as a power cut hit the paddock, leaving them unable to see any timing, with everyone from team bosses to mechanics  following the action on their phones to find out how their riders were placed.

Dennis Foggia worked with his Leopard team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki, who had been fastest on Friday, taking it in turns to pull eacghother around. Their final run together brought the Italian to just within just 0.295s of the new benchmark in the class, with Suzuki fifth.

The mix of manufacturers on the front row is added to by Daniel Holgado. The rookie has already been second on the grid in Italy and enjoyed a strong showing in qualifying again, in a chasing group over the line, the Red Bull KTM Ajo topped the timesheets briefly before Guevara registered his attack, with his best effort holding on for third.

Ayumu Sasaki is still managing the pain in his collarbone, a leftover from his race in Mugello, an early flying lap remained his best effort and secured him fourth on the grid for Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max racing.

Sixth went to his compatriot Ryusei Yamanaka for MT Helmets- MSI, with rookie David Munoz making the most of his trip directly into Q2 in seventh for BOE Motorsports in just his third qualifying session.

Championship leader Sergio Garcia has work to do to stay trouble free from eighth on the grid.

The Aspar rider finished a solid but not very progresssive session just ahead of Matteo Bertelle (QJMotor Avintia Racing Team) who was the best of the riders to move up from Q1.

Scott Ogden lost valuable tenths in the final sector of his best lap as he caught Holgado ahead, with his lap completing the top ten for VisionTrack Racing.

Joel Kelso and Tatsuki Suzuki did not improve their times in FP3 but the times the duo set on Friday, where the Leopard rider was provisionally top of the timesheets, saw them straight into Q2. While Suzuki progressed, Kelso struggled to pick up the pace again leaving him eleventh for CIP Green Power.

John McPhee had cancelled laps and traffic to contend with, meaning his early banker remained his best in 13th on the second Sterilgarda entry.

Riccardo Rossi moved up from the first session but was his progressed stifled by a bike issue liliting his track time. Once out on the SIC58 Squadra Corse machine he placed 15th.

Masia’s crash left him without a time to his name and last in the Q2 session.

Disappointment for Deniz Oncu.

Oncu was demoted to tenth in Q1 after having been judged to have exceeded track limits on his Q1 topping lap

Deniz Oncu had already lost out on his best lap as Andrea Migno crashed towards the end of FP3, dropping him out of the danger zone and into Q1.

The Red Bull KTM Tech 3 rider was focussed in that session and was desperate for clear track, unable to find it the Turkish rider ended up riding around Elia Bartolini to hit the front of the lead group and seemingly move into Q2 with the top time. Thinking his lap was in the bag he got out of the scrappy session and watched the final minutes in his pit box.

A disappointed Oncu was then informed of his demotion after running over the kerb at the final corner, which leaves him 24th on the grid.

What else happened in Q1?

There were two huge turn three incidents, which brought out the yellow flags.

The first saw Xavier Artigas, who set the first fast lap in the session, in the gravel with Mario Aji.

Joshua Whatley highsided out of the same turn moments later after making good progress in the morning session, with Riccardo Rossi riding into the back of his fall.

Kaito Toba also fell as the session concluded.