Alex Rins’ sensational rookie season in the Moto2 class continued on Saturday at Le Mans, the Spaniard snatching pole position from under the nose of Sam Lowes. The top two finished on identical times after an enthralling qualifying session but Rins’ second best lap was quicker than Lowes’, handing him top spot on the grid for tomorrow.
The story during free practice looked to be the return to form of Tito Rabat who was back to his relentless best on Friday and early in qualifying, the reigning champion was untouchable. Rabat moved into provisional pole seven minutes in with a 1:37.823 and for the next twenty, Tito lowered his own benchmark time on a regular basis, eventually reaching a 1:37.371.
With a quarter of an hour remaining, home favourite Johann Zarco stepped up to challenge the world champion with a 1:37.330 but Lowes found even more time on his next effort, setting the fastest ever Moto2 lap of the Bugatti circuit.
In the closing minutes, all eyes were on Rins with the Paginas Amarillas rider regularly setting pole position sector times only to hit traffic in the final few corners. One minute from the chequered flag, Alex finally found enough clear space to set a 1:37.114, identical to Lowes’ best effort but with his next best lap better than the Speed Up’s, Rins was able to celebrate a maiden Moto2 pole.
Zarco took the final spot on the front row with Tito Rabat forced to settle for the second row in fourth, where he will be joined by Takaaki Nakagami and Thomas Luthi. Luis Salom heads the third row ahead of Xavier Simeon and Julian Simon while Randy Krummenacher completes the top ten.
MOTO2 MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE – QUALIFYING RESULT
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