Moto3: Rodrigo Takes Pole as Masia Penalised for Oil Spill

The Moto3 World Championship was presented with close to perfect conditions in qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix, round six of the 2020 season. 

There was plenty of cruising in Q1, as riders knew they couldn’t afford to miss out on a tow. A crash from Jaume Masia did not cost him a place in Q2, but it did cause a leak in his bike. He crashed at turn six, and then spread oil throughout the second half of the lap, causing a delay to Q2. On his oil, Andrea Migno and Davide Pizzoli both crashed on their in-laps at the end of the session, although thankfully they both looked unhurt. 

Joining Masia in advancing to Q2 were Niccolo Antonelli, Deniz Oncu and Darryn Binder, although with a 1’36.921 being Masia’s fastest time of the session the pace was significantly slower than we saw in free practice. 

As a result of what was deemed by the stewards as irresponsible riding, Masia was suspended from Q2. It was a strange penalty, not only for the sanction itself but also for the fact that strictly speaking, Masia broke no rules – there is nothing that says a rider cannot ride their bike back to the pits, or even just continue with their run, as we see so often with Marc Marquez in MotoGP, after a crash. 

Of those who could compete in Q2, it was Gabriel Rodrigo who was the fastest, as the Argentinian took his first pole position of the season. After two disappointing races in the Czech Republic and Austria, the #2 now has an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow as he searches for his first win. 

Two of the 2020 pole hounds will join Rodrigo on the front row tomorrow, with Raul Fernandez qualifying second and Tatsuki Suzuki in third place. For Suzuki, there are some parallels between this race and the Andalusian Grand Prix, since this is the second race in one week at the Red Bull Ring, and last week’s result was particularly disappointing for the #24. 

Tony Arbolino qualified fourth ahead of Celestino Vietti. The #13 had been the fastest rider through free practice by quite a margin, so it was surprising that he was able find himself some space on track. He was close to pole position, but late laps from those who qualified ahead of him, combined with a mistake on his final flying lap, meant that it was only fifth for Vietti, although if he gets any time at the front tomorrow it will be worrying for his competition. 

On the back of the second row will be John McPhee, who out-qualified both his main championship rivals, Albert Arenas and Ai Ogura. 

Dennis Foggia returned to something more similar to the form he showed when he took his maiden win in Brno, qualifying seventh. The Italian will be joined on the third row by the aforementioned championship contenders: Ai Ogura in eighth and Albert Arenas in ninth. 

Rounding out the top 10 in Q2 was Darryn Binder, who will start from the front of the fourth row, ahead of Deniz Oncu and Filip Salac; whilst Sergio Garcia was 13th  and will start alongside Jeremy Alcoba and Niccolo Antonelli on row five. 

At the front of row six will be Stefano Nepa, as he qualified 16th, faster only than Kaito Toba – the two of them will be joined on the sixth row by the penalised Masia. 

Ayumu Sasaki was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, although the Japanese rider will be hopeful his pace from last week will carry into the race and he can fight for the podium tomorrow, when he will be joined on the seventh row by an Italian duo of Riccardo Rossi and Romano Fenati. 

Row eight will see Andrea Migno – who crashed with Maximilian Kofler in Q1, compromising both of their sessions – start ahead of Carlos Tatay and Alonso Lopez; whilst Jason Dupasquier, Davide Pizzoli and Ryusei Yamanaka will start from row nine; and the grid will be rounded out by a back row of Yuki Kunii, Maximilian Kofler and Barry Baltus who encountered technical problems at the start of the session and did not set a time.