Sam Lowes secured his third consecutive Aragon pole on Saturday with a dominant early 1’51.778 performance on the Elf Marc VDS Kalex.
The front row was rounded out by Red Bull KTM’s Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez as the title rivals left it to the dying seconds before setting near identical laps, three-tenths adrift of the Brit.
Hector Garzo held court as the afternoon’s final qualifying began with a 1’52.249. Marcel Schrotter, Tom Luthi and Cameron Beaubier staking their claim on the promotion places in the opening half with the American circulating just half a second off the fastest time.
Simone Corsi ran best of the rest in fifth at the halfway stage with Joe Roberts failing to set a time until the final four minutes. It was worth the wait as the Italtrans rider found second, however, the success demoted his countryman out of Q2 contention.
John McPhee continued his Moto2 education in 15th, setting a 1’53.475 on his first qualifying experience in the intermediate class.
The afternoon’s climax began with Jorge Navarro at the top with an initial 1’52.436, heading Raul Fernandez and the Aspar pairing of Albert Arenas and Aron Canet. The second hot-laps saw the screens alight and the times shuffle as Lowes took charge thanks to a 1’51.778 - half a second adrift of his own lap record.
Garzo sat second, fresh from his Q1 experience with Ai Ogura, Arenas and Navarro rounding out the top five. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the second row, in sixth with six minutes remaining, Marco Bezzecchi leading Marco Ramirez and Canet on two three.
Roberts suffered further difficulty as Q2 unfolded, the American gravel tracking from the back of the pack before regrouping for the final run.
The rapid rookie was back on form as the minutes counted down, Fernandez rising from 12th to eighth after an end of lap tangle with Xavi Vierge stunted his progress. Remy Gardner leaving it late to perform as he circulated in 14th. The championship leader pushed his KTM to second as the flag dropped, the Kalex sliding all over the circuit as he left everything out on track.
Fernandez showed the only signs of a challenge as the final seconds faded, lining up alongside his teammate in third after a last gasp effort.
Lowes retained the pole from the title rivals - for his fourth time at the Spanish venue and his third in succession - with Garzo, Ogura and Arenas completing the second row.
