Moto3: Suzuki Goes from Q1 to Pole in Qatar

The 2020 Moto3 World Championship gets underway this weekend in Qatar, qualifying took place on 7th March.

Tatsuki Suzuki took the second pole position of his grand prix career ahead of the first round of the 2020 world championship after passing through Q1, his fastest lap just 0.008 seconds faster than Raul Fernandez. The Spaniard will line up second tomorrow, his best starting position in Moto3 as he makes his debut for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team. Fernandez’ 2019 teammate, Albert Arenas, picks up pretty much where he left off in 2019, by qualifying third for tomorrow’s race.

Darryn Binder changed his form from 2019 to 2020, and the South African qualified on the front of the second row for the first round of the new season. Poor qualifying results are often what cost Binder in 2019, so it will be interesting to see what he can achieve from a front row start. Ai Ogura and Jaume Masia will join Binder on the second row.

Andrea Migno had a decent qualifying with seventh, ahead of rookie Deniz Oncu who already seems to be getting on with Moto3 better than his brother, Can. John McPhee, the most experienced rider in the category after Jakub Kornfeil’s departure at the end of last season, will complete the third row tomorrow. 

The top ten in qualifying was completed by Tony Arbolino, who will be joined by Jeremy Alcoba and Kaito Toba on row four; whilst a mechanical problem late in Q2 limited Gabriel Rodrigo to 13th on the grid, with the most recent Moto3 race winner, Sergio Garcia, and series rookie Yuki Kunii joining the Argentine on row five.

Celestino Vietti continued his trend of poor qualifying performances, and will need to continue his trend of strong race results irrespective of said poor qualifying performances tomorrow if he is to salvage a good result from 16th on the grid. The Italian will be joined by Carlos Tatay and Romano Fenati on the sixth row tomorrow.

Dennis Foggia has been a cause for concern for his team over the winter, as his adaptation to the Honda from the KTM he has ridden previously taking longer than expected. The Italian was unable to pull anything out of the bag in qualifying, either, finishing as the fastest rider not to advance to Q2 from Q1, and will line up 19th tomorrow, with Filip Salac and Ayumu Sasaki joining him on row seven.

Stefano Nepa will start from the head of row eight in 22nd place, ahead of compatriots Riccardo Rossi and Davide Pizzoli; whilst Alonso Lopez will start 25th, to be joined by Max Kofler and Ryusei Yamanaka on the ninth row. 

Dirk Geiger will make his Moto3 debut from 28th, with fellow debutante Jason Dupasquier and Niccolo Antonelli’s indefinite replacement Jose Garcia joining the German on row 10.

Finally, Khairul Idham Pawi completes the grid in 31st, on his return to racing and to the Moto3 class.