Moto3: Red flags cut Q2 short, Suzuki on pole with lap record

Glorious sunshine bathed the Mugello circuit in Italy, as the qualifying for the sixth round of the 2021 Moto3 World Championship took place in Tuscany. 

In Q1, there were two big accidents. Firstly, Takuma Matsuyama crashed at the final corner mid-way through the session which ended his chances of setting a competitive lap time in his second grand prix appearance, this time in place of Yuki Kunii. Secondly, Riccardo Rossi was cruising on the racing line at the end of his first run, and when Izan Guevara tried to pass him at Scarperia, the two came together leaving the Spaniard worse off and being carted to the medical centre. 

Of those who survived Q1, Tatsuki Suzuki was the fastest, moving through to Q2 along with compatriot Kaito Toba, championship leader Pedro Acosta, and Niccolo Antonelli. 

Q2, as it often does, went the way of Tatsuki Suzuki who was agonisingly close to being the first rider to ever lap Mugello in under 1’56 with a Moto3 machine. His time of a 1’56.001 was comfortably good enough to take pole position and the lap record for the Japanese rider at his SIC 58 Squadra Corse team’s home race. 

Pedro Acosta was on provisional pole for less than a second, as it was him that Suzuki used as a marker and a tow for his own fast lap. As it was, Acosta took second, which is his best qualifying of the season, and the first front row of his career in grand prix racing. 

The front row was rounded out by Gabriel Rodrigo, who will be hoping for a change of fortunes this weekend after a first five rounds that have shown promise from the #2 Gresini rider, even if he hasn’t been able to translate that yet. 

Dennis Foggia will head up the second row tomorrow, with Jaume Masia and Jeremy Alcoba starting alongside him; while the third row will be fronted by Romano Fenati, who will be joined there by Niccolo Antonelli in eighth and John McPhee in ninth.

In the final lap of Q2 there was a major accident, involving Ayumu Sasaki and Jason Dupasquier. Dupasquier was leading Sasaki, and high sided on the exit of Arrabbiata 2. It was a big crash for Dupasquier on his own, and was made worse when Sasaki made contact with the fallen Swiss’ unguided KTM, the Japanese being hurled skywards before a heavy impact, although he was later declared ‘okay’ as per Race Direction and an interview Jeremy Alcoba, who was also caught up in the incident, gave to Spanish broadcaster DAZN.

Of particular worry was Dupasquier, who was shown on the world feed broadcast receiving IV treatment on the track. Sasaki and Dupasquier qualified 10th and 11th, respectively, but it seems unlikely that Dupasquier will line up tomorrow. Certainly, that Dupasquier required being carried by helicopter to Florence hospital from the track, whether or not he can compete tomorrow seems of little importance. 

Should either or both of Sasaki and Dupasquier be present on tomorrow’s grid, they will be joined on the fourth row by Kaito Toba. 

On row five will be Deniz Oncu, Stefano Nepa and Sergio Garcia, who did not set a representative lap time before the red flags were thrown for the Sasaki-Dupasquier incident. The same could be said for the three riders on the sixth row: Darryn Binder, Andrea Migno and Filip Salac. Those four riders proved the risk of waiting until the end of the session to set a time – as with everything in motorcycle racing, this strategy is subject to the unpredictability of sport. 

The wildcard, Alberto Surra, who has been impressive all weekend for the VR46 Academy Bardahl team, was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, and will start his debut grand prix from 19th, ahead of Xavi Artigas and Riccardo Rossi on the seventh row. 

On row eight, Andi Izdihar will start from 22nd alongside the second VR46 Academy Bardahl KTM of Elia Bartolini and Lorenzo Fellon; while Ryusei Yamanaka will head up the ninth row from Adrian Fernandez and Carlos Tatay. On the back row, Maximilian Kofler will start from 28th, ahead of Izan Guevara – providing he is declared fit to race – and the aforementioned Matsuyama.