Lowes equals Moto2™ pole record with Aragon hat-trick

The British rider takes a commanding third pole in a row at MotorLand; Red Bull KTM Ajo duo claim front row starts

Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Sam Lowes notched up a fifth pole position of the 2021 season after a dominant display in Moto2™ Q2 at the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon. The British rider set a 1:51.778 to beat World Championship leader Remy Gardner by 0.279s, with the Australian’s Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate and main title rival Raul Fernandez claiming a phenomenal P3, despite nursing a right-hand metacarpal fracture.

Lowes equals all-time Moto2™ pole tally

Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) sat top of the pile after the opening laps were set by the intermediate class, but Lowes landed a 1:51.778 to take control in the session. Q1 graduate Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP40) went P2 to sit 0.3s behind Lowes, with rookies Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) third and fourth for the time being.

Gardner was lingering down in P14 and he only had one lap to salvage something from Q2. Wringing the neck of his Triumph powered Kalex, the Aussie produced a last gasp stunner to climb to P2, with teammate Raul Fernandez working wonders to earn P3 on his final flying lap. Neither could get within a couple of tenths of Lowes though, who equals the Moto2™ pole position tally record with 16.

Three tenths split P3 to P10

Garzo came through Q1 and until the closing seconds, it looked like a front row start was on the cards but nevertheless, P4 is the Spaniard’s best Saturday result of the season. Ogura again continues to shine with a P5, as former Moto3™ title rival Arenas bags his best Moto2™ qualifying result in sixth.

Navarro will spearhead Row 3 in P7, the Spaniard finished Q2 0.4s down on Lowes’ pace and has Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) for company. Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) grabbed a solid top 10 to see Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) unable to place higher than P11 and P12 respectively.

Tune into the Moto2™ race at 12:20 local time (GMT+2) on Sunday afternoon!

Top 10:
1. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – 1:51.778
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.279
3. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.306
4. Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP 40) + 0.329
5. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.370
6. Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) + 0.392
7. Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) + 0.419
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.609
9. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.613
10. Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) + 0.622

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