For the first time, Iván Ortolá will start from pole position in the Moto3 World Championship. The Spaniard was the strongest in Saturday’s qualifying in Barcelona, where the record lap set in the morning session was not beaten.
The Q1 was exciting and closely contested until the end. Matteo Bertelle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers/Honda) was the fastest, beating David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports/KTM) by 0.107s. Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda) made the most of his last lap to finish third.
Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GasGas Tech3) also secured a spot in Q2, finishing fourth. The Australian rookie was 0.261s ahead of fifth-placed Scott Ogden (MLav Racing/Honda).
Some riders only posted times a little later in Q2 and, after seven minutes, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GasGas Tech3) was leading ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM). Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) completed his first flying lap seven minutes before the end and moved to the top.
The session was a bit more challenging for David Alonso (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar), whose first two flying laps were invalidated. When he finally set a valid time, he ended up in second, 0.210s behind Veijer.
After the usual pit stops halfway through qualifying, the riders returned to the track for the final minutes and the leaderboard would change completely. Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) even secured pole position, beating Veijer by just 19 thousandths.
José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was third, and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) surprised by finishing fourth ahead of Yamanaka. Alonso was one of several riders affected by the yellow flags and ended up in sixth place. Meanwhile, Holgado, the championship leader, will start from ninth after being involved in the crash that caused the yellow flags.
