David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) set a scintillating 1:34.181 to take pole position at the Motul TT Assen by 0.291s, sercuring his maiden pole in style. Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) believes he's found a big step forward with his CFMoto machine, which has put him in the middle of the front row ahead of Sunday's race, with Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) rounding out the top 3. Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) failed to deliver after a tough Q1 session saw the no. 96 set the slowest time to start from dead last on the grid.
WOW! Championship leader @daniholgado96 will start LAST! ????#DutchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/hegIRH36ot
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 24, 2023
The Moto3™ contenders were given the perfect opportunity to capitalise on a struggling Daniel Holgado, and Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) latched himself onto an on-form Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) to take the top spot after the first shots were fired. The 2nd run of laps came around and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was looking strong as he set the fastest lap of the weekend so far to snatch the top spot from Öncü. The times continued to tumble as Muñoz pulled out the lap of his life to smash the lap record and deny the field of the top spot, with Masia then crashing out half lap later too, rider ok.
After Kelso and Rossi sliced up, Sasaki was bumped down to P4 and will front row 2 ahead of Öncü and Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team). Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) took P7 ahead of Masia who despite topping practice, only had enough for row three. Colin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) took the final spot on the third row, with Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) rounding out the top 10.
The Moto3™ riders' attention now turns to the race on Sunday, make sure not to miss any of the action as it commences at 12:15 local time (GMT +2).
Top 10:
1. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) - 1:41.181
2. Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) +0.291
3. Ricardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) +0.329
4. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) +0.331
5. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +0.339
6. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) +0.397
7. Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) +0.421
8. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) +0.560
9. Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) +0.577
10. Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) +0.581