#AragonGP Moto3 qualifying: Jorge Martin in pole position despite a fall

Although he had achieved the best time, Jorge Martin fell without seriousness, imitated by five other drivers, but he managed to maintain pole position ahead of Enea Bastianini, Aron Canet, Nicolo Bulega, Dennis Foggia and Joan Mir.

#AragonGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'59.676 Jorge Navarro	1'59.114 Aron Canet
FP2	1'58.998 Brad Binder	1'59.586 Joan Mir
FP3	1'58.770 Fabio Quartararo	1'57.833 Jorge Martin
Qualification	1'58.293 Enea Bastianini	1'58.067 Jorge Martin
Warm Up	1'59.668 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Course	Navarro, Binder, Bastianini (see here)
All time lap record	1'57.755 Bastianini 2015

The Spanish drivers started largely as favorites at home, the three free practice sessions having been dominated by Aron Canet, Joan Mir and Jorge Martin, the latter setting the best time in 1'57.833. However, watch out for Enea Bastianini who had taken pole position for the last two years, as well as Romano Fenati, second in the provisional standings for the World Championship.

For this qualifying session, the air temperature was 21° and the ground temperature was 33°. Maria Herrera withdrew from the Grand Prix, her broken right collarbone in Misano handicapping her too much. Aron Canet, who had fallen heavily in the morning, took part in the event, although rather wrinkled. This was also the case for Philipp Oettl, also the victim of a big fall on Saturday morning.

Romano Fenati set the first reference time in 2'00.216. Dennis Foggia started late following an electrical problem. Half an hour from the checkered flag, World Championship leader Joan Mir took command in 1'58.784, 0.1 ahead of Aron Canet and 0.3 ahead of Jorge Martin and Jaume Masia. Jules Danilo was in twenty-fourth position.

Enea Bastianini climbed to fourth place, first among the non-Spanish drivers, 0.4 behind Mir. He was then followed by Fabio di Giannantonio, Gabriel Rodrigo and Marco Bezzecchi. Romano Fenati was twelfth at 0.8. Everyone then returned to the pits to put on a set of new tires for the sprint in the final minutes. The drivers had no complaints about the grip. Most had finalized essential settings based on temperature variation during the two-day test.

As the last quarter of an hour had just started, Nicolo Bulega and his KTM Sky VR46 climbed into third position, 0.06 behind Aron Canet in second. Canet took pole position in 1'58.516, but Jorge Martin overtook him shortly after in 1'58.180. We were four tenths away from the circuit record set by Bastianini in 2015. Jorge Martin progressed with 9 minutes to go in 1'58.067. He preceded Aron Canet by 0.4 and Joan Mir by 0.7, big gaps for this category.

🏁 # Moto3 qualifying

Pole position for @ 88jorgemartin despite THIS crash on his final flyer! He's OK, Bastianini & Canet 2nd/3rd#AragonGP pic.twitter.com/s7cn5TZ5qc

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2017

On the very last lap, Jorge Martin fell without seriousness in turn 12, imitated shortly after by Juanfran Guevara, Joan Mir, Adam Norrodin, Andrea Migno and Fabio di Giannantonio.

Disaster at the end of qualifying as a crash from Norrodin collects the likes of Mir, Migno, Guevara & Di Giannantonio!😱#AragonGP pic.twitter.com/8xHXePyR5v

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2017

Jorge Martin retained pole position ahead of Enea Bastianini, Aron Canet, Nicolo Bulega, Dennis Foggia and Joan Mir. Jules Danilo finished fifteenth.

Qualification results (compiled by our friends at rash.net):

1. George Martin SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 58.067s
2. Enea Bastianini ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 58.425s
3. Aron canet SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 58.516s
4. Nicholas Bulega ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 58.593s
5. Dennis Foggia ITA Sky Junior Team VR46 Academy (KTM) 1m 58.768s
6. Joan mir SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 58.784s
7. John mcphee GBR British Talent Team (Honda) 1m 58.813s
8. Philipp Oettl GER Südmetall Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 1m 58.961s
9. Tatsuki suzuki JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 58.976s
10. Marcos Ramirez SPA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 58.985s
11. Roman Fenati ITA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 59.165s
12. gabriel rodrigo ARG RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 59.167s
13. Adam Norrodin MAL SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 59.177s
14. Fabio DiGiannantonio ITA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 59.271s
15. Jules Danilo FRA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 59.321s
16. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 59.360s
17. Marco Bezzecchi ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 59.379s
18. Ayumu Sasaki JPN SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 59.390s
19. James Masia SPA Cuna de Campeones (KTM) 1m 59.392s
20. Will Bendsneyder NED Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 59.505s
21. Juanfran Guevara SPA RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 59.513s
22. Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 1m 59.535s
23. Niccolo Antonelli ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 59.697s
24. Albert Arenas SPA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 1m 59.706s
25. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 1m 59.813s
26. Manuel Pagliani ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 59.819s
27. Aaron Polanco SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 59.833s
28. Tony Arbolino ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 59.849s
29. Darryn binder RSA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 59.861s
30. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat THA Honda Team Asia (Honda) 2m 0.205s
31. Kaito Toba JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 2m 0.953s
32. Patrick Pulkkinen END Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 2m 1.261s
Maria Herrera SPA AGR Team (KTM) No Time