Moto3: Fernandez avoids traffic to take fourth pole in Aragon

Round 11 of the 2020 Moto3 World Championship takes place this weekend in Aragon. The qualifying session saw some of the best conditions of the weekend as riders had been battling cold temperatures throughout proceedings. 

Q1 saw some tactical riding by Carlos Tatay and Ayumu Sasaki allow the two KTM riders to take the top two spots in the session. They were joined by Gabriel Rodrigo and John McPhee in advancing to Q2. 

Q2 saw some significant touring and cruising, and therefore it is likely that before the riders line up for the grid tomorrow there will be some major changes to the grid. 

That said, it was Raul Fernandez who took pole position, the fourth of both his season and career as he continues his search for a maiden podium in the World Championship. This weekend looks a bit different for the Spaniard compared to previous ones, though, as he has enjoyed a pace advantage on almost the whole field. The last two years have seen runaway Spanish victors with Jorge Martin in 2018 and Aron Canet last year, and a good start could see Fernandez make a similar statement. 

Joining the #25 on the front row are two of the four major championship contenders, Le Mans winner Celestino Vietti and points leader Albert Arenas. Vietti was the only rider within half a second of Fernandez’ pole time in Q2, and like Fernandez was able to make the lap time on his own. Arenas, on the other hand, needed the tow and might pay for it with a penalty later on, but he got the time in when he needed it and that should keep him out of trouble into the notoriously dangerous turn one tomorrow. 

Alonso Lopez missed out on the front row courtesy of Arenas’ final lap. The Spaniard will have a long lap penalty to serve tomorrow as a result of the incident last weekend which took himself and Romano Fenati out of the race in France, but at least a strong starting position should help him minimise the time loss. Joining Lopez on the second row will be Tatsuki Suzuki and Romano Fenati, Suzuki sitting in a Sterilgarda Max Racing Team Husqvarna sandwich in fifth. 

Heading up row three will be last year’s star qualifier Carlos Tatay, unable to repeat the front row heroics of his wildcard in 2019. The #99 will start alongside Ai Ogura and Gabriel Rodrigo; while John McPhee completed the top 10 in qualifying and is slated to start from the front of the fourth row alongside Darryn Binder and Niccolo Antonelli. 

Row five sees Andrea Migno start from 13th ahead of Sergio Garcia and Deniz Oncu, while Jeremy Alcoba, Jaume Masia and Ayumu Sasaki will start from the sixth row.

A late lap from Kaito Toba ensured he was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, ahead of Dennis Foggia and Maximilian Kofler – those being the three that will populate row seven tomorrow. 

Behind them, row eight will be comprised of Filip Salac, Jason Dupasquier and Stefano Nepa; while Yuki Kunii will start from the front of row nine alongside Davide Pizzoli and Riccardo Rossi. The 10th and final row will see Khairul Idham Pawi start alongside Barry Baltus and Ryusei Yamanaka who will start last on the 30-rider grid, which will miss Tony Arbolino after his close contact with a positive coronavirus case on his plane to Aragon.