The Spaniards battle it out in Mugello, as Sam Lowes takes third. 

After claiming Pole in France, Pedro Acosta looked set to continue his positive streak this weekend, continuously improving on the timesheets since FP1 on Friday. However, he wasn’t the only one with solid pace so far in Italy, as Canet was right up there along with his compatriot. Despite still being injured from the crash in Portimao, the Pons Racing rider has yet to fall below podium status since the Portuguese round, and so it is no surprise to see Canet once again in contention this time around. 

With under 10 minutes of the session remaining, it was a brief affair for numerous riders at the top of the board, as Jorge Navarro, Celestino Vietti and Sam Lowes all saw the provisional Pole position consecutively before Canet took to the front. However, the majority of the Q2 pack were proving promising with their lap times, as Mattia Pasini soon stole the top spot, with Jake Dixon and Barry Baltus in tow. The Italian had lead the Q1 session to the chequered flag, and was making good of his graduation into the front running group.

Soon enough, Acosta saw the top spot of the grid with 7 minutes remaining, setting a time that put the Red Bull KTM Ajo kid 0.1s ahead of Pasini. As the session wound down, the battle for Pole calmed down somewhat, with riders settling in to their positions for the final minutes of qualifying, as Acosta continued to whittle down his times at the front. 

However, as per usual, Canet wasn’t ready to settle for second, and threw down a 1:51.121 to take the lead with just over two minutes to go. Despite efforts from Acosta, Canet’s time remained untouchable to the chequered flag, giving the Spaniard a much-needed Pole position for the race tomorrow. The Pons Racing man resides 19 points behind title leader Vietti, with Ai Ogura sandwiched between the pair, just 3 points above Canet. 

With Acosta settling for a promising P2 on the grid, it’ Sam Lowes who rounds out the front row after a very strong qualifying session, the Brit will be looking for a good result after missing the race last time out in Le Mans. Championship leader Vietti managed to steal P4 in the final minutes of the session, followed by Pasini and Ogura on Row 2. Will Pasini shake up the front runners come race day?

Portugal victor Joe Roberts starts the race from P7, with Tony Arbolino following by just 0.014s. Jake Dixon rounds out the third row in 9th place, as Barry Baltus closes out the Top 10. 

With the grid’s top 17 riders all placing within a second of Pole, its once again anyone’s game in Moto2. 

The Moto2 Race will begin at 12:20pm Local Time (GMT +2).

Feature Image: MotoGP.com