Moto2: Raul Fernandez takes his first pole of 2021 in wet Le Mans qualifying

Qualifying for round five of the 2021 Moto2 World Championship got underway in tricky conditions at Le Mans. The track was dry at the start of the session but the threat of rain was ever present. 

In Q1, it was Joe Roberts who came out on top, as he moved through to Q2 along with Ai Ogura, Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassarri, as two MV Agustas qualified for the second session for the first time this season.

For Q2, the rain returned, and that upset everyone’s plans for the session, as the riders who  went out on slicks were forced to return for wets.

By the end, it was Raul Fernandez with the advantage. The Spaniard was something of a pole-hound in Moto3, but this was his first in Moto2, and it was well-deserved in such tricky conditions where so many riders fell. 

Joining Fernandez on the front row tomorrow will be Marco Bezzecchi and Joe Roberts, who has some unfinished business with Le Mans after the chaotic fiasco that was the start of his race last season.

Aron Canet fired in a late lap to go fourth, and he will start from the front of the second row ahead of Augusto Fernandez and Bo Bendsneyder, who took his best qualifying since round one in Qatar. 

Remy Gardner was on for provisional pole on his final lap, and that might have been good enough for the front row overall. But a mistake in the third split cost him two seconds, and seventh was the best the #87 could manage. He will start from the head of the third row, alongside the Flexbox HP 40 duo of Hector Garzo and Stefano Manzi, who were eighth and ninth, respectively. 

Sam Lowes had a difficult session, as he recorded his worst qualifying of the season in 10th. Alongside the #22 on row four will be Nicolo Bulega and Xavi Vierge; while Marcel Schrotter will start from the front of the fifth row in 13th, ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Baldassarri qualified 13th but was served with a one-place grid penalty after the Spanish Grand Prix). 

Ai Ogura fell early in the session and could only manage 16th, ahead of Simone Corsi and Jorge Navarro, who fell not long after Ogura.

Tony Arbolino was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, and qualified 19th ahead of Somkiat Chantra. But Chantra received a six-place grid penalty for irresponsible riding in free practice, so will start 26th. That means that Lorenzo Dalla Porta is promoted from 21st to 20th, and Marcos Ramirez moves up from the front of row eight to the back of row seven.

Tom Luthi was ninth-fastest in Q1, but thanks to Chantra’s penalty will start from 22nd at the head of row eight, on which he will be joined by rookies Cameron Beaubier and Albert Arenas.

Jake Dixon will head up row nine from the aforementioned Chantra, and Hafizh Syahrin; while Celestino Vietti will start from 28th, ahead of Barry Baltus and Tomasso Marcon on row 10. 

Yari Montella fell in FP1 on Friday, and had to be taken to hospital for surgery on his right wrist. Having been declared unfit, Montella will be replaced by Alonso Lopez, who is riding a Speed Up for the Ciatti team in the European Moto2 championship, where he is teammates to the European championship leader, 17-year-old Fermin Aldeguer. Since Aldeguer is riding for Aspar in MotoE this weekend, he is ineligible to fill in for Montella, and in any case Lopez’ previous grand prix experience in the Moto3 class is an extra qualification that Aldeguer is missing. It was not a fantastic qualifying, though, for Lopez, and he will start from the back of the grid.