Moto3: Suzuki back on pole in Jerez

May 1, 2021 May 1, 2021

Qualifying for the fourth round of the 2021 Moto3 World Championship took place in the world famous Circuito de Jerez in Andalucia.

Two of the rookie sensations were present in Q1, as both world championship leader Pedro Acosta and Izan Guevara took part, trying to pass through to Q2. They were both successful, with Acosta topping the session from Guevara. The two were joined in passing through to Q2 by fellow Spaniards Carlos Tatay and Jeremy Alcoba.

When Q2 rolled around there was a familiar occurrence, as Tatsuki Suzuki took pole position, just as he did in the Grand Prix of Andalucia in the second round of the 2020 season. It has not been a fantastic start to 2021 for Suzuki – not all of it his fault after having to deal with Covid after-effects in Qatar 1, and being taken out in Portugal – so the aim of the #24 will surely be to repeat his performance from Sunday of last year’s Andalucian round, when he converted that aforementioned pole position to victory.

Joining Suzuki on the front row will be Jeremy Alcoba, who performed well after being forced through Q1, and Andrea Migno, whose impressive adaptation to the Honda continues. Both will be in search of their first podiums of the season tomorrow.

Dennis Foggia leads the Moto3 field in Portimao, 2021. Credit: Rob Gray (Polarity Photo).

On row two, Gabriel Rodrigo will start from fourth, ahead of Romano Fenati and John McPhee; while Darryn Binder will start from the head of the third row in seventh, alongside Ayumu Sasaki and Niccolo Antonelli.

Deniz Oncu rounded out the qualifying top 10 and will start from the head of the fourth row after his best Saturday of the season. Joining the #53 on row four will be the aforementioned Izan Guevara, and Filip Salac; while Pedro Acosta will head up row five from Jason Dupasquier and the second Red Bull KTM Ajo machine of Jaume Masia.

Row six will be comprised of Carlos Tatay, Xavi Artigas and Yuki Kunii, who was the slowest of the Q2 runners.

Ryusei Yamanaka was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, and he will start from 19th tomorrow, alongside Andi Izdihar and Sergio Garcia on the seventh row; while Adrian Fernandez will head up row eight from Dennis Foggia and Riccardo Rossi. Stefano Nepa will start from the front of row nine, alongside Kaito Toba and Maximilian Kofler, and Lorenzo Fellon will be alone on the back row of the grid in 28th.