The Moto2 World Championship season has officially begun in Thailand! After Diogo Moreira's victory last season, the intermediate class is searching for its new leader, and numerous riders are in contention for the title. Among them are Aspar, David Alonso, and Daniel Holgado, as well as Manuel Gonalez and Barry Baltus.
Free Practice 2: On Saturday morning, Daniel Holgado distinguished himself by setting the fastest time in Free Practice 2. While considered a favorite for pole position, the Spaniard didn't quite pull away from the competition. The top five in this session, completed by Izan Guevara, Senna Agius, David Alonso, and Barry Baltus, were separated by a mere 172 thousandths of a second. This result promises a close qualifying battle! To be in contention, however, David Alonso still had to advance from Q1.
Qualification 1: Caught out by the weather conditions during the previous day's practice sessions, David Alonso, Toni Arbolino, Deniz Oncu, and Aron Canet were the clear favorites for Q1. For the remaining competitors vying for the four remaining qualifying spots, the task looked daunting. However, after each driver's first attempt, only the first three were clearly ahead of the pack, while the Marc VDS driver was only in 8th place. Japanese rookie Taiyo Furusato took advantage of this to move into provisional 4th. The top seven were then separated by just three-tenths of a second, and the race was far from over.
At the end of the session, Daniel Munoz found something extra compared to his rivals, setting the only time in the 1:34 range during Q1, with a lap completed in 1:34.896. This relegated Deniz Oncu to second place, two tenths of a second behind. Meanwhile, Aron Canet found his rhythm, securing the third fastest time, ahead of David Alonso in fourth. Both drivers also qualified for Q2. Tony Arbolino was unable to improve his time. Barry Baltus's teammate at Fantic will start from 23rd on the grid.
Qualification 2: Daniel Holgado confirmed his excellent form on Saturday at the start of Q2, securing provisional pole position with a time of 1:34.625 on his first run. He was less than a tenth of a second ahead of Ivan Ortola, while the top 10 were separated by just four tenths of a second. After his initial runs, Barry Baltus failed to live up to the potential he had shown earlier in the day, only managing the provisional 13th fastest time. The Belgian driver therefore left his garage early at the end of the session to try and improve his time.
A few minutes later, Izan Guevara improved his time, missing the benchmark by a thousandth of a second. The battle for pole position intensified. Senna Agius managed to go even faster, taking the top spot with two minutes remaining in the session. His time came at the perfect moment, as just seconds later, Alex Escrig – who hadn't yet set a time – crashed, taking Sergio Garcia down with him.
Both riders ended up in the gravel trap in sector 2, and the subsequent yellow flags prevented all riders from improving their times. The Australian therefore secured pole position for the Moto2 Thailand Grand Prix, ahead of Izan Guevara and Daniel Holgado.
David Alonso and Barry Baltus were the victims of this incident. While they were improving their personal best times, the Colombian and the Belgian had to abandon their laps, ultimately qualifying 10th and 13th respectively. There was also great disappointment for the Marc VDS team, with Aron Canet and Deniz Oncu finishing 15th and 17th in the session, after having made it through Q1.
Following his crash at turn 1 the day before, Adrian Huertas fractured a bone in his right foot, and therefore did not take part in the qualifying session, withdrawing from the rest of the Moto2 Thailand Grand Prix.
Moto2 Thailand – Q2 standings:
Ranking : MotoGP.com
