Sam Lowes claimed an important pole position for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix on a day when his championship rivals struggled for pace. The Briton overhauled Jonas Folger in the closing minutes and with Alex Rins and Johann Zarco seventh and sixteenth respectively, Lowes is well placed to extend his championship lead tomorrow.
With temperatures climbing, many riders found conditions easier at the beginning of the session, especially those at Dynavolt Intact GP. Sandro Cortese’s first representative lap of the afternoon was a 1:42.439, faster than anything from the preceding practice sessions but he was soon knocked off pole position by his teammate Jonas Folger who edged ahead by three thousandths of a second.
An apparent lack of grip looked to have put paid to any chance of improvements but Lowes had other ideas with four minutes to go, clocking a 1:42.433 on his Gresini Kalex. A second improvement moments later saw the Briton consolidate pole position and with Folger lacking pace late on, Lowes had secured his second pole of 2016.
Cortese completes the front row with Franco Morbidelli heading the second row in fourth, one place ahead of Thomas Luthi who is the nearest championship contender to Lowes on tomorrow’s grid. Lorenzo Baldassarri will line up sixth ahead of the disappointing Rins while Simone Corsi and Alex Marquez will join him on the third row tomorrow.
Moto2 Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana (Qualifying Classification)
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