Moto3 Indonesia: First pole for Tatay, home hero Aji on front row.
Carlos Tatay rose to the top in Q2 as he took charge of the newest track to join the MotoGP calendar, the Pertamina Mandalika circuit in Lombok, ahead of the Indonesian Moto3 race, round two of the championship.
The Spaniard made his mark rising to the top of the timesheets with six minutes of the session remaining, displacing the early benchmark of Mario Aji.
- Indonesian MotoGP: Full results from Free Practice 3
- Indonesian Moto GO: Full results from Free Practice 2
Working in conjunction with his team-mate Xavier Artigas, he then lowered his time to 1m 41.232s on his final run.
It also marks the first pole position for the new CFMoto Racing PruestelGP team.
Arriving on top form after being the top rookie in Qatar, finishing the opening race in an impressive sixth, Diogo Moreira was once again the cream of the new talent. The Brazilian took second on the grid for MT Helmets-MSI (KTM), just 0.083s off the top time.
The all teenage front row is completed by fellow rookie, home rider Aji. The Honda Team Asia rider was the only one on track with previous knowledge of the circuit and used that to his advantage, surviving running wide early on in Q1 as he pushed to find the limit of the track, coming through the first session second .
The Indonesian will start the first grand prix in his country for 25 years from third on the grid after an electric performance in Lombok. Aji becomes the first Indonesian rider to secure a podium in any class of MotoGP racing.
Teamwork saw Artigas pick up fourth, with Qatar race winner Andrea Migno fifth. The Rivacold Snipers man had looked good ahead of qualifying topping both the fastest FP2 and wet FP3 session.
Pre-season favourite Dennis Foggia sits in sixth on the grid after his first fall from the Leopard this season.
Sergio Garcia recovered from his early Q1 spill to top that session and move on to Q2 where he took seventh for Gaviota GasGas Aspar.
His team-mate Izan Guevara, who was on pole in Lusail before receiving a penalty, is next on the grid in eighth.
Deniz Oncu lines up ninth for Red Bull KTM Tech3, with Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing’s Ayumu Sasaki completing the top ten.
With a new track and changeable weather proving great levellers Scott Ogden was able to secure a direct slot in Q2 after no improvements were to come after a huge downpour before FP3.
The British rider had secured ninth on Friday with Michael Laverty’s VisionTrack Racing Team but fell at the start of Q2 along with Riccardo Rossi. The team worked hard to get Ogden back on track but just missed out on a final flying lap by seconds, leaving him 18th.
Team-mate Joshua Whatley is 27th on the grid after learning and following in the group to cut his time.
He lines up ahead of podium finisher at the first round Kaito Toba. A series of crashes over the weekend so far had seemed to dent the confidence of the CIP Green Power rider. Another fall in the first qualifying session sees him line up last.
John McPhee is absent for the race weekend after fracturing two vertebrae in a training accident. Taiyo Furusato also remains absent through injury.
