Aron Canet will start the opening round of the 2024 Moto2 World Championship from pole position after translating his searing pace from Practice through to a dominant showing in Qatar Moto2 qualifying.

An eighth career Moto2 pole position for Canet, it nonetheless comes in his first race meeting with the Fantic Racing squad as he heads into Sunday’s race encounter bidding to tick off his long-awaited first Moto2 win at the start of his fifth season in the intermediate category.

It was an assured showing from Canet, who fended off the attentions of Alonso Lopez to secure the top spot, the two Spaniards earmarked themselves as the only riders to dip below 1m 57secs.

It remained fairly close throughout though with just one second covering the 17 of the 18 riders taking part in Q2.

Despite this, the order was somewhat more shaken up than anticipated with Albert Arenas putting in a stellar showing to complete the all-Spanish front row on the QJMotor Gresini Kalex. The former KTM Ajo rider had been forced to book his Q2 spot via Q1 but after topping the earlier session comfortably, Arenas used it as a warm-up for an even more impressive performance in the pole-deciding session.

A strong evening for Gresini Racing all-round, Arenas’ team-mate Manuel Gonzalez used his final flying lap to slot in behind his countryman in fourth, just +0.002s shy of the front row.

Behind him, 2023 Moto2 runner-up Tony Arbolino delivered one of his strongest qualifying performances in recent months with a solid fifth on the grid, while Barry Baltus joined Arenas in making the most of getting in the groove during Q1 to secure one of his career-best starts in sixth.

The Belgian’s efforts went a long way to making up for RW Racing team-mate Zonta van den Goorbergh’s frustrating tumble at the final corner mid-way through the session. The Dutchman proved one of the star turns during Practice, only to fall while on a lap that would have likely placed him on the front two rows too. Even so, despite missing the final six minutes, he still starts tenth.

Title favourite Fermin Aldeguer failed to string a strong lap together to give himself work to do in seventh place, a third row he shares with Marcos Ramirez on the best of the American Racing machines and Izan Guevara, who secured his first top ten start in ninth.

Guevara’s upturn in form would raise the spirits of the CFMoto Aspar Team following the confirmation that Jake Dixon - who was expected to challenge for the win - was declared unfit following his P2 accident.

🇶🇦 ⏱️ 2024 Qatar Moto2 Lusail | Qualifying Results

Saturday | Conditions - Dry