Moto3: Binder takes pole on Petronas debut

Sunset in Qatar saw the Moto3 class take to the track at the Losail International Circuit for its first qualifying session of the 2021 season. 

In Q1, a fast lap on his first run from Darryn Binder ended up confirming his spot in the pole position shootout of Q2. Binder and his Petronas Sprinta Racing squad were also clever with the tactics, luring everyone into thinking they were going to make a second run, but in the end deciding to stay in the garage. Because everyone else was waiting for Binder to follow him on the second run, they lost track of the clock, and as happens all too often in Moto3 a number of them did not get around to start a lap for their second runs. Of those who did, only Romano Fenati and Riccardo Rossi were able to make an impact on the top four, with Fenati taking third and Rossi fourth, behind Binder and the rookie, Izan Guevara. 

It got better for Binder in Q2, as the rider who normally comes from row six to fight for race wins and podiums scored pole position on his debut for the Petronas Sprinta Racing team. The 2:04.075 put Binder agonisingly close to a historical 2:03 lap time, which has never been achieved before on a Moto3 machine. But it was, in any case, a lap record for the #40, who will have the rookie, Izan Guevara, and his teammate, John McPhee, alongside him on the front row tomorrow, with the reigning Moto3 Junior World Champion fitting neatly into the Petronas Honda sandwich on his Gaviota Aspar GASGAS. 

On row two, Jeremy Alcoba starts from fourth. The Spaniard was the closest rider to Binder after the first run, but was too late out for the second one to get another attempt. But the front of the second row still leaves plenty of options open for the #52, as he will start alongside Jaume Masia, the top KTM rider (albeit in brand name only), and Kaito Toba, the 2019 Moto3 winner in Losail. 

Row three will see Gabriel Rodrigo begin his third season with Gresini from seventh, ahead of Sergio Garcia on his Aspar debut, and Riccardo Rossi who seems to have made a step up at the beginning of 2021. 

Niccolo Antonelli completes the qualifying top 10 in Qatar ahead of his Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 debut, and joining the Italian on row four will be last year’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion, Pedro Acosta, and Jason Dupasquier – another rider, like Rossi, who seems to have stepped up for this season.

Dennis Foggia qualified a disappointing 13th in the first qualifying session of his second season with Leopard Racing. The pressure is well and truly on Foggia this season, so he needs to bounce back tomorrow from a row five start alongside Carlos Tatay and Ayumu Sasaki, another rider with a lot of pressure. 

Animation is typical of Moto3 riders, they’re young and so emotions can be hard to contain. That said, it is not always easy to tell whether the emotion is positive or negative, and that was certainly the case with Maximilian Kofler when he crossed the line after his second lap. The German qualified 16th on his first Q2 appearance, thus making this automatically his best qualifying in Grand Prix racing, and the #73 will start alongside Andrea Migno and Romano Fenati on row six. 

Deniz Oncu was disappointed to have missed out on Q2, and the Turkish rider will start the first race of his second full season of Grand Prix racing in 19th, ahead of Yuki Kunii and Ryusei Yamanaka on the seventh row. 

Behind, on row eight, Adrian Fernandez will begin his full-time Grand Prix career from 22nd, with Filip Salac and Xavi Artigas – who was on the podium in his Grand Prix debut at Valencia in 2019 – starting alongside the #31 on row eight. 

Stefano Nepa will head up row nine, ahead of Andi Izdihar – who this year has swapped places with Ai Ogura in the Honda Team Asia setup, with Izdihar moving down to Moto3 and Ogura up to Moto2 – and the rookie Lorenzo Fellon, Niccolo Antonelli’s replacement at SIC58 Squadra Corse. 

Indeed, both SIC58 bikes will be on the back row, as Tatsuki Suzuki had his first lap cancelled for track limits and was one of the many riders to miss the flag on the second run, so will start last. The Japanese rider is also still struggling to breathe on the bike, so with the increased humidity of the evening race, it is unclear whether the #24 will be able to race tomorrow.