Another weekend, another pole position. Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) secured his 17th Moto3™ pole in fine style at the GP Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, smashing the lap record at Misano by 0.324 to spearhead the lightweight class grid behind enemy lines, with Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) 0.311 behind the Spaniard in second and Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) in third – the Honda rider jumping up the timesheets on his final run.
#Moto3 Qualifying ????
— MotoGP™???????????? (@MotoGP) September 8, 2018
That boy @88jorgemartin does it again! His 17th pole in the lightweight class and a new lap record to boot!#SanMarinoGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/2zhKizLL0G
Blue skies greeted the Moto3™ grid for qualifying and the pace was scorching from the outset, with Italians Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP), Leopard Racing’s Enea Bastianini, teammate Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) challenging for provisional pole, before Rodrigo went quickest shortly before tucking the front at Turn 1 – rider ok.
The standings remained the same before the riders emerged for a final crack at pole and it was qualifying master Martin who set the timesheets alight to take his eighth pole of the season, with Rodrigo and Canet lining up alongside him on the front row. Fourth on the grid and the leading Italian in qualifying is Di Giannantonio, who missed out on a front row start by just 0.001.
Behind the number 21 is a gaggle of home riders, led by Bastianini in fifth, with Championship leader Bezzecchi having to settle for 6th on board his KTM after looking very strong for a home pole throughout. Heading the third row is SKY Racing Team VR46’s Nicolo Bulega who went out in tandem with fellow VR46 Academy riders Dennis Fogia (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Bezzecchi to try and find the fastest lap time possible – P7 for Bulega in the end.
Dalla Porta lines up alongside his compatriot in eighth, with Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrustelGP) 9th after his fastest lap time was cancelled for exceeding track limits at the final corner – a P2 position on the grid went beckoning for the Czech rider. Rounding out the top ten in qualifying was Japan’s Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing).
There was a crash for Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) at Turn 2 during the session with the German heading for the medical centre for a checkup.
So it’s another Martin pole position, but will he be able to hold off an Italian attack on Sunday with Bezzecchi searching to maintain his Championship lead on home soil? Find out when the lightweight class go racing at the San Marino GP at 11:00 local time (GMT +2).
Click here for the full results!