Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) has produced his best form of the weekend to claim pole position for tomorrow’s Moto2 race at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Victoria’s Phillip Island circuit.
Pasini set his best lap time of 1m33.362s on his 11th lap of qualifying, then sat out the final, frantic stages of the session to watch from the sidelines as the rest of the field attempted to better his mark.
Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP/Kalex), who has been one of the pacesetters since the opening free practice session, put in 21 laps during the session in an attempt to claim the coveted pole spot but fell agonisingly short with a best of 1m33.624s to sit alongside Pasini on the front row.
Lining up in third position for tomorrow’s race will be Schrotter’s Dynavolt teammate Xavi Vierge (1m33.721s).
Australian Tech 3 teammates Remy Gardner and Bryan Staring will line up 15th and 27th on the grid respectively. Gardner earned his fifth-row start with a 1m34.181s qualifying time, while Staring’s 1m35.760s was good enough for a ninth-row start.
The two combatants for the Moto2 world title, Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46/Kalex) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) both endured a tough qualifying session and will start tomorrow’s race from 16th and 20th positions respectively. Bagnaia managed a best of 1m34.367s for a sixth-row start while Oliveira’s 1m34.556s will see him start on the seventh row.
Photos: GnG
Full results from Moto2 qualifying available at
http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2018/AUS/Moto2/QP/Classification.pdf?v1_a305597b
