Jaume Masiá continues to be in excellent form, and this Saturday at the Moto3 Japanese GP, he achieved his third consecutive pole position – dominating the qualifying session.
The Q2 session began with Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team/Honda) leading ahead of Ivan Ortolá (Angeluss MTA Team/KTM). Several of the contenders for top positions only completed their first flying laps a few minutes later.
David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports/KTM) and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) took the first two positions less than nine minutes from the end, pushing Bertelle down to third. With about six minutes remaining, Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda) suffered a crash at turn nine.
Shortly after, Masiá (Leopard Racing/Honda) moved to the top of the standings, while Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) became the second fastest.
By the end, Masiá improved to 1m56.331s, and despite Öncü’s attempt to improve, he was 0.208s slower than theleader. Bertelle finished in third place, followed by Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team/KTM) and Ortolá in the top five. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM), who shares the championship lead with Masiá, will start from sixth.
Q2 results:
Overall qualifying results: