Niccolò Antonelli dominated Moto3 qualifying to claim his maiden 2021 pole position for Avintia VR46 at his home Misano Circuit.
Filip Salac and Riccardo Rossi joined the front row celebrations with championship challengers Pedro Acosta and Dennis Foggia starting fifth and 14th respectively for Sunday’s 23-lap race.
Qualifying fired up with John McPhee, Romano Fenati, Andrea Migno and Jaume Masia amongst the intermediate class big hitters facing the Q1 fight. KTM Ajo rider Masia took charge as the session opened before Tatsuki Suzuki and wildcard Mario Aji took over in second and third. Fenati was the next to strike, before Masia improved overall next time around.
Antonelli ran fastest on his third lap, his 1’51.704 narrowly defeating Masia while the duo sat a second clear of the next best efforts. Rossi took over at the halfway stage before Masia and Antonelli advanced the standings again, the Avintia rider setting the first 1’50 of the session, half a second ahead of his nearest rival.
It was an all-Italian battle as Migno and Antonelli squabbled for the premier spot with five minutes left on the clock, McPhee joining the fight, from third, with Aji claiming the final promotion place. Suzuki crashing out at turn four but returning to the action in the closing minutes.
Jeremy Alcoba became the next faller as turn 15 claimed the Gresini rider, his session over from 11th in the session. Antonelli continuing his impressive run out front, now well over a second faster thanks to a 1’49.401, as Ryusei Yamanaka stole second and pushed McPhee into the danger zone with Fenati down to fifth.
The final flourish saw the standings shuffled completely. Antonelli remaining first from Rossi, McPhee and Masia with Fenati frustrated once again on home soil as he looks to start 19th on the grid for the Emilia Romagna GP.
The fight for pole began on wet tyres and a drying but patchy track. Antonelli headed Friday’s surprise star Alberto Surra before Stefano Nepa and Ayumu Sasaki slotted in between. The Avintia man continuing to dominate, one and a half seconds clear thanks to a 1’49.256 lap.
Another stand out ride found Tech3 stand-in Daniel Holgado in fifth before the fellow KTM of Acosta dropped him one position. While McPhee began his Q2 battle from 11th in the times, with Darryn Binder down in 14th at the halfway stage.
Sasaki crashed out at turn 14 after finding second, with five minutes to go. The yellow flags preventing Surra’s progress on his hot lap, as Nepa demoted the Japanese rider and McPhee arrived to fourth.
The red sectors kept coming for Antonelli as he advanced with a 1’48 before flying again as the clock counted down. 1’48.563 was now the provisional pole effort, Salac sitting second 1.2s adrift with Acosta claiming the final front row spot with two minutes to go.
Nepa stole third before Masia did likewise, with Rossi demoting Acosta further as he took fifth. Nepa had more to give, however, and his final lap delivered second but the celebrations were denied as a last lap shuffled dropped him all the way to eighth.
Antonelli claimed his first pole position of the year, and on home soil, from Salac with Rossi completing the front row while Izan Guevara, Acosta and Masia rounded out row two. Surra secured seventh from the frustrated Nepa and Xavier Artigas with Sasaki, Adrian Fernandez and McPhee starting 10th to 12th. Yuki Kunii sat 13th ahead of a dejected Foggia with Andi Izdihar, Binder, Lorenzo Fellon and Holgado completing the set.
