Francesco Bagnaia took a last-gasp pole position for the British Grand Prix to give himself a sizeable start-line advantage over championship rival Miguel Oliveira. The Sky VR46 rider struck with the final lap of the afternoon to deny Tech 3’s Remy Gardner and with Oliveira’s qualifying problems returning to leave him 23rd, Bagnaia looks well placed to extend his championship lead.
The intermediate class riders had to wait patiently to get their qualifying session underway after heavy rain earlier in the afternoon caused an hour-long delay to proceedings. Fortunately for Moto2, conditions had markedly improved by the time their qualifying session finally started shortly after 4pm local time.
Provisional pole changed hands regularly throughout the session as conditions gradually improved, with Bagnaia largely keeping his powder dry until the final five minutes. With Spaniard Iker Lecuona dreaming of a maiden pole position, Bagnaia clocked a 2:08.551 lap to grab provisional pole two and a half minutes from time.
Marcel Schrotter had topped the timesheets in both practice sessions to dodge the showers and looked on course to prevail again, going fastest 20 seconds before the chequered flag flew, with Bagnaia busy berating himself after overshooting Becketts. The Italian regathered his composure just in time though, allowing him to respond to Gardner’s shock lap, and claim a crucial pole position.
Alex Marquez also saved his best until last to qualify third, knocking Schrotter off the front row, while Luca Marini and MotoGP-bound Fabio Quartararo complete the second row. Mattia Pasini was seventh, with Lecuona dropping to eighth alongside his SII team-mate Sam Lowes.
Moto2 GoPro British Grand Prix (Qualifying)
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