Salac sneaks his way to surprise pole in Portimao

A sensational 1:42.323 lap from Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) saw him take the first Moto2™ pole position of 2023. Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los4), and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put in strong efforts during Q2 bagging front-row starts in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Qualifying 1 went the way of Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS) as he topped the session to secure himself a Q2 spot. The Italian was joined by Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (Fieten Olie Racing GP), Jeremy Alcoba (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™), and Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) who finished in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively, snatching at their final opportunity for Q2 promotion.

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Tensions were high as Moto2™ headed into its first Q2 of 2023. Canet set the benchmark time early on, saving a big rear-end slide on the exit of Turn 3 one lap later. As the session went on the Moto2™ riders chased down Canet's time, and it wasn't long before the Czech rider hit the top of the timesheets, with no one able to better his time.

6 minutes remaining and it was curtains for Alonso Lopez (CAG SpeedUp) who was caught out at Turn 3, with his front row chances ending in the gravel trap. The Spaniard was in 12th spot when he went down, slipping down to 14th by the end of the session.

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With just a minute and a half remaining, the yellow flags came out in sector 4 after Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP) locked the front end and went down at Turn 14. This meant flying laps from Pedro Acosta and Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) were both cancelled. Both riders had another crack at the whip with Acosta snatching the final spot on the front row, bumping Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) down to the front of 2nd row in P4.

Tomorrow's Moto2™ race commences at 12:15 local time (GMT), in the meantime keep up to date with all the action on motogp.com!