Moto3: Oncu takes maiden pole as Garcia crashes in Styrian qualifying

After a five-week summer break, the Moto3 World Championship returns to action this weekend at the Red Bull Ring for the Styrian Grand Prix. Qualifying took place on Saturday, after Ayumu Sasaki topped the combined practice times. 

Q1 got off to a slow start, as only the Honda Team Asia riders, Andi Izdihar and Yuki Kunii, went out in the first five minutes, while everyone else waited in pit lane. It was not a promising sign of things to come, but it was inevitable, as the Red Bull Ring has only 10 corners, and only seven or eight of those are meaningful on a Moto3 bike. Slipstream, then, is perhaps more important in Austria than at any other venue on the Grand Prix calendar, and for the Moto3 field that has predictably sketchy,and frustrating, results.

When everyone else eventually did go out they were mostly well-behaved, and it was Dennis Foggia who topped the session. Joining the Italian in advancing to Q2 were Tatsuku Suzuki, Gabriel Rodrigo and Romano Fenati. 

Q2 saw some late drama, as Sergio Garcia, who looked destined for pole position, crashed out late on and was usurped at the top of the times only seconds later by Deniz Oncu, who secured the first ever pole position for a Turkish rider in grand prix racing. 

Joining the #53 on the front row will be Sergio Garcia, providing he is fit to race (the #11 was able to stand after the crash at turn three but had to be assisted in walking away by the marshals), and Romano Fenati, who came through Q1 to qualify on the back of the front row. 

A late charge from Jeremy Alcoba lifted him from ninth to fourth, so the #52 will head up row two tomorrow, alongside two rookies: championship leader Pedro Acosta and Izan Guevara.

Row three will be fronted by Jaume Masia, ahead of Dennis Foggia and Darryn Binder, while Gabriel Rodrigo completed the qualifying top 10. That means the Argentinian will start from the front of the fourth row, on which he will be joined by Niccolo Antonelli and John McPhee.

Riccardo Rossi will head up row five in 13th place, ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki and Ayumu Sasaki who crashed early on in the session; while Andrea Migno will start from the front of the sixth row, alongside Stefano Nepa and the returning Filip Salac who is back at PruestelGP this weekend.

Xavi Artigas was the fastest rider to miss Q2, and will start from 19th alongside Carlos Tatay and Ryusei Yamanaka on the seventh row. Behind, Yuki Kunii will head up row eight from Lorenzo Fellon and Maximilian Kofler; while Kaito Toba could only manage a time good enough for 25th on the grid, and will be joined by Filip Salac’s Snipers Team replacement, David Salvador, and Adrian Fernandez on row nine. Andi Izdihar will complete the grid in 28th.