EG00’s Alex Marquez has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Moto2 race at the Qatar MotoGP round, beating a late-charging Lorenzo Baldassarri by three-tenths of a second with Pecco Bagnaia in third place.
Marquez led most of the session, putting in a 2’00.651 early doors with Miguel Oliveira and Britain’s Sam Lowes in close attendance. A crash for Lowes and subsequent front spring change didn’t help the Swiss Investors rider and he ended the day in 10th place.
However, British pride was upheld by Speed Up’s Danny Kent who sprang into the top six after shadowing Oliveria to set a 2’00.695 and finish 0.666s off the pace.
Marquez’ final run ended in a 2’00.299 with Baldassarri on a 2’00.607 in second place. Bagnaia was a further 0.236s back with Oliveira the first KTM in fourth. Class rookie Romano Fenati bagged fifth with his last lap and demoted Kent to the outside of the second row.
Jorge Navarro, who held second earlier in the session, finished in seventh with Mattia Pasini in eighth. Marcel Schrotter was ninth and one ahead of Lowes.