Aron Canet earned pole position during Moto2 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Silverstone Circuit, in England. Riding his Fantic Racing Lino Sonego Kalex on Pirelli control tires, Spanish veteran turned a 2:02.482 to top the field of 24 riders.
Manuel Gonzalez was second-best with a 2:02.630 on his LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex.
Diogo Moreira claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 2:02.817 on his Italtrans Racing Team Kalex.
American Joe Roberts finished Saturday’s qualifying session 14th with a best time of 2:03.896 on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
QualifyingResults moto2More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Q1 to pole: Canet beats Gonzalez to Silverstone pole. The Spaniard grabs a Saturday P1 by just over a tenth as Moreira earns a front row start.
Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) came through Q1 to clinch pole position at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom by 0.148s, with pre-session favourite and Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) settling for P2. Canet’s 2:02.482 was 0.335s faster than third place Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team), the Brazlian grabbing a front row at Silverstone.
The first hurdle was Q1, which had a star-studded line-up in Canet, reigning Moto3 World Champion David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and the Beta Tools SpeedRS Team duo Celestino Vietti and Alonso Lopez. There was late drama for Sergio Garcia (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI) who crashed at Luffield, bringing out yellow flags and neutralising the closing stages of the session. Canet, Alonso and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) were all through but a late improvement from Lopez saw him pip teammate Vietti to put one of Luca Boscoscuro’s machines through but leave the other one P19 on the grid.
In Q2, Canet quickly rose to the summit with Gonzalez his closest challenger. It was a battle between the top two in the title race throughout the session, with home hero Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) occupying a provisional second row.
That was until the final flurry of laps came in. Dixon was unable to improve but plenty of others did – including Canet and Gonzalez. The former claimed pole in the end, Moreira’s final lap placed him on the front row and Alonso pounced up to P4 in the closing stages too.
Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Ramirez join the Colombian on the second row, with Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) spearheading Row 3 in P7 ahead of Izan Guevara (BLUCRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) and Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team). Dixon, in the end, was forced to settle for P13.
Tune into the Moto2 race at 11:15 (UTC+1) on Sunday morning.