Aron Canet takes advantage of the sun on Saturday, taking Pole ahead of Cameron Beaubier and Jake Dixon. 

Saturday witnessed the first promising session weather-wise for the intermediate class, after a dull and lacklustre Friday saw only 11 riders setting times in FP1. Despite the poor conditions, it was Marcel Schrötter who lead Day 1 with a time of 2:00.678 – a time even the Moto3 crew were beating, a true example of just how poor the conditions have been so far this weekend. 

As the pack set out for Q2, it was Austin victor Tony Arbolino who set the bar for the session. Despite having to climb the ranks through Q1, the ELF Marc VDS rider continues to look promising ahead of Sunday’s race. As the minutes counted down, multiple riders proved worthy of the provisional Pole, as Arbolino fought off the likes of Jake Dixon and Jorge Navarro at the top of the board. 

However, despite his best efforts, Arbolino’s run for Pole concluded with 5 minutes remaining, as a redemption-seeking Aron Canet took the lead with a time of 1:44.556 and remained untouchable to the line – improving his time over and over again. After the tragedy of the DNF at COTA, it’s no surprise to see Canet pushing for every advantage possible heading into Sunday. The Spaniard finished Saturday with a Pole-winning time of 1:44.151. 

The final seconds of Q2 saw a number of steals across the line, as the chequered flag saw the likes of Ai Ogura, Sam Lowes and Augusto Fernandez challenge for the front row on the grid. However, it was Cameron Beaubier and Jake Dixon who took the remaining spots in their final laps. Both riders head into race day following their monster weekends last time out in America, with Dixon following on from his debut rostrum, as Beaubier continues to showcase his strength in Qualifying – let’s hope the American can follow through in the race this time around. 

Arbolino settles for P4 on the grid after an impressive improvement from his Q1 start to the day, ahead of Augusto Fernandez and Sam Lowes. Ai Ogura leads Row 3 ahead of Somkiat Chantra – another rider seeking redemption after the last race. Joe Roberts closes out the third row in 9th position, while Albert Arenas rounds out the Top 10 on the grid. 

Title leader Celestino Vietti will have work to do from 13th place on the grid. While the Italian does have a 14 point gap to Ogura in second, he isn’t the only one to watch. Canet sits only 21 points back, and the man on Pole is looking for redemption. 

This time we are not betting on any man to lead the pack to victory. Anything can happen in Moto2, so we’ll see you at the chequered flag.

Moto2’s Race will begin at 14:30 Local Time (GMT +1).

Feature Image: MotoGP.com