Moto2 has refined its list of drivers holding at least one pole position by including the name of Augusto Fernández at the end of qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix. The Pons driver is starting to gain the upper hand over his teammate and yet still championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri. Behind the Spaniard, Lüthi sticks to 21 thousandths and Sam Lowes remembers everyone by closing the leading trio.
Still, we will observe the drivers equipped with a Speed Up chassis who held the first row until the last minutes of the qualifying session. It is this chassis which imposed itself with fabio quartararo last year in Montmeló. We will also look at the performances of KTM which are now so disappointing that an NTS chassis poses a threat...
Before jumping into the fray, here is the table which summarizes the facts…
|
Barcelona Moto2™ |
2018 |
2019 |
| FP1 | 1'44.225 Francesco Bagnaia | 1'44.673 Tom Lüthi |
| FP2 | 1'44.340 Alex Marquez | 1'44.782 Augusto Fernández |
| FP3 | 1'43.560 Francesco Bagnaia | 1'44.214 Jorge Navarro |
| QP1 |
XXX |
1'44.662 Bo Bendsneyder |
| QP2 | 1'43.474 Fabio Quartararo | 1'44.170 Augusto Fernandez |
| warm up | 1'43.628 Fabio Quartararo | |
| Course | Quartararo, Oliveira, Marquez | |
| All time lap record | 1'43.474 Quartararo (2018) |
23° in the air and 28° on the track under a warm sun are the conditions offered to the drivers for these 20 minutes of warm-up. bastianini in 1'45.243 signs the first reference and confirms the good vintage of beginners this season. They are also three in the top 10 on the starting grid for the Catalan Grand Prix. The Italian hits the mark in 1'44.625, ahead Fernández, Lüthi, Nagashima et Marini.
Alex Marquez reacts in 1'44.335. Schrötter et Fernandez follow. Lüthi accelerates at half-time in 1'44.313. Odendal falls at turn 4 with his NTS.
The feeling comes from Fernandez who achieves a 1'43.981 which is faster than his performance during qualifying... He takes half a second from his teammate Baldassarri ninth. Lüthi improves by 7 thousandths and NAVARRO climbs fourth with the Speed Up. The first KTM is twelfth with Binder.
bastianini crash at turn 10. He was fifth, one tenth off the best time. Folger point tenth. The session ends with a Alex Marquez who achieves a 1'43.764. He joins Lüthi et Fernandez in the lead, and are the only ones under the 1'44 lap mark. Navarro, Schrötter et bastianini follow. Baldassarri eighth point.
Catalan Grand Prix, Barcelona, Moto2 Warmup: times
