Gonzalez grabs a debut pole ahead of Aldeguer

Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™)  steals pole position in the final 20 seconds of qualifying at the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal, setting a brave lap to secure a free track in front of him on Sunday. Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) will line up in second – improving on his final lap of qualifying. Aron Canet on the Triumph powered, Fantic Racing machine was provisionally in second before being demoted to third in yet another strong qualifying for the Spaniard.

After struggling to set a fast lap in Practice, 13 riders took to action in Q1, with Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI), Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team), and Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) all making their way into Q2. As Q2 got underway, the pace was heating up as Fermin Aldeguer dipped into the 1:41 bracket and track temperature rose to 36C.

In the closing stages, nobody could catch Aldeguer until the last minute of the session when Canet and Gonzalez snatched pole position from the Spaniard. In a final lap attempt, Aldeguer gave it everything – managing to secure second at the line. This gave Gonzalez a career first pole position and an all-time lap record in the delight to the Gresini squad.

Behind the trio on the front row of the grid will be Qatar GP race winner Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) pushed to the limit at the final corner. Alongside Lopez on the second row will be Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) who springboards from 11^th to fifth in the final five minutes. Capping off a great Saturday for the QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™ team was Albert Arenas, beginning the Portuguese GP from sixth. On the third row will be both MT Helmets – MSI riders of Ogura (after battling through Q1) and Sergio Garcia, with Chantra joining them on a competitive third row of the grid.

The Moto2™ field will be back on Sunday when the lights will go out at 12:15, make sure you keep up to date on motogp.com!

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