On a rain soaked Silverstone circuit, it was Leopard Racing’s Jaume Masia who took pole position ahead of Britain’s Scott Ogden in 2nd and championship rival Daniel Holgado in 3rd. Masia taking the fight to Holgado as best he can to keep his title hopes alive.
It was a qualifying session full of yellow flags and riders tip toeing round the circuit in cold damp conditions.. Well it wouldn’t be a proper British Grand Prix without the rain and clouds now would it.
Into Q1 and with 9 mins left of the session the first set of times were coming through with Xavi Artigas posting the quickest time. Just as Artigas went quickest, David Alonso lit up the yellow flags in sector 4 and was unable to get the bike going again. Alonso would have to start Sunday’s Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
As the riders confidence grew throughout the session the lap times tumbled with Artigas dominating the session, a surprise name in the Q1. With David Salvador at the end of the session going down at turn 17, the top 4 going through to Q2 were Artigas, Taiyo Furusato, Joel Kelso and Filippo Farioli.
Into Q2 we went and with these conditions it was anybody’s guess as to who would take pole for Sunday’s race. Ivan Ortola and Stefano Nepa were the first to come through with the KTM teammates posting the first batch of quick times. When the riders found the grip the lap times fell with the usual names of Holgado, Ayumu Sasaki and Masia all quickly into the top 10.
Last 5mins of Q2 and championship leader Holgado topped the times by a few tenths to Sasaki in 2nd. Masia then only a few moments later smashed the quickest time by over half a second to go to the top of the timings.
Pushing for pole Holgado in sector 4 had a big high side at club corner. The championship leader caught out and was likely to go quickest with just one corner left of the lap.
Only a minute left of the session now and with both sectors 1 and 4 in yellow flags could Masia hold onto pole position. The final laps came thick and fast as Scott Ogden was red in the first three sectors and Sasaki was also flying on his final attempt. With both riders pushing for pole position, Sasaki crossed the line only to be pipped to pole by Ogden. As Ogden looked up to the screen and started celebrating there was a lot of confusion as to why the timing screens were showing Masia on pole position.
After what must of been an agonising wait for Ogden, confirmation eventually came through to show that Ogden’s lap time had been cancelled. Still a fantastic qualifying from the home rider clearly showing his talent in mixed conditions.
Pole position for Masia then with Holgado in 3rd. Two championship rivals on the front row with British rider Scott Ogdon in the middle in 2nd.
Image Courtesy of MotoGP
Feature Image Credit: MotoGP