The intermediate class got a sunny welcome back on track after the damp start on Saturday morning and it was a familiar sight having Sam Lowes back in parc fermé to celebrate pole position. The British rider was slow to get going, not helped by some early yellow flags, but he quickly regrouped to lead the way and secure pole position by two tenths of a second. Alonso Lopez was one of the early leaders of Q2 and eventually made his way back into second on the grid, while Tony Arbolino secured his first front row of the season to complete a nearly perfect Saturday for the Marc VDS squad.
After sitting at the top of the timing screens for a significant part of Q2, Filip Salac wasn’t all that pleased to only take fourth at the chequered flag, opening row two ahead of Pedro Acosta and Celestino Vietti – the Italian enjoying a much better weekend in France and providing an impressive save at turn three for the highlights reel. Somkiat Chantra in seventh position was only three tenths off pole and will be joined on the third row by Jake Dixon, whose session ended with a tumble at turn seven, and Manuel Gonzalez.
Q1 graduates Barry Baltus and Fermin Aldeguer will keep Albert Arenas company on the fourth row, while Aron Canet had to settle for 13th after adding yet another crash to his weekend in Le Mans, prompting a red flag at the end of Q2 because his machine rested in the middle of the track at turn three. Bo Bendsneyder and Lukas Tulovic also escaped Q1 but then hit the deck in Q2 and will be joining Canet on the fifth row of the grid.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
1 | 22 | Sam Lowes | Kalex | 1:35.791 | ||
2 | 21 | Alonso Lopez | Boscoscuro | 1:36.036 | 0.245 | 0.245 |
3 | 14 | Tony Arbolino | Kalex | 1:36.053 | 0.262 | 0.017 |
4 | 12 | Filip Salac | Kalex | 1:36.135 | 0.344 | 0.082 |
5 | 37 | Pedro Acosta | Kalex | 1:36.169 | 0.378 | 0.034 |
6 | 13 | Celestino Vietti | Kalex | 1:36.178 | 0.387 | 0.009 |
7 | 35 | Somkiat Chantra | Kalex | 1:36.180 | 0.389 | 0.002 |
8 | 96 | Jake Dixon | Kalex | 1:36.225 | 0.434 | 0.045 |
9 | 18 | Manuel Gonzalez | Kalex | 1:36.354 | 0.563 | 0.129 |
10 | 7 | Barry Baltus | Kalex | 1:36.437 | 0.646 | 0.083 |
11 | 54 | Fermín Aldeguer | Boscoscuro | 1:36.474 | 0.683 | 0.037 |
12 | 75 | Albert Arenas | Kalex | 1:36.537 | 0.746 | 0.063 |
13 | 40 | Aron Canet | Kalex | 1:36.686 | 0.895 | 0.149 |
14 | 64 | Bo Bendsneyder | Kalex | 1:36.726 | 0.935 | 0.040 |
15 | 3 | Lukas Tulovic | Kalex | 1:36.794 | 1.003 | 0.068 |
16 | 79 | Ai Ogura | Kalex | 1:36.998 | 1.207 | 0.204 |
17 | 16 | Joe Roberts | Kalex | 1:37.005 | 1.214 | 0.007 |
18 | 11 | Sergio Garcia | Kalex | 1:37.060 | 1.269 | 0.055 |
Q1 Results: | ||||||
Q2 | 54 | Fermín Aldeguer | Boscoscuro | 1:36.454 | ||
Q2 | 3 | Lukas Tulovic | Kalex | 1:36.539 | 0.085 | 0.085 |
Q2 | 64 | Bo Bendsneyder | Kalex | 1:36.548 | 0.094 | 0.009 |
Q2 | 7 | Barry Baltus | Kalex | 1:36.698 | 0.244 | 0.150 |
19 | 4 | Sean Dylan Kelly | Kalex | 1:36.726 | 0.272 | 0.028 |
20 | 52 | Jeremy Alcoba | Kalex | 1:36.836 | 0.382 | 0.110 |
21 | 24 | Marcos Ramirez | Forward | 1:36.959 | 0.505 | 0.123 |
22 | 84 | Zonta Van Den Goorbergh | Kalex | 1:36.966 | 0.512 | 0.007 |
23 | 71 | Dennis Foggia | Kalex | 1:37.123 | 0.669 | 0.157 |
24 | 8 | Senna Agius | Kalex | 1:37.134 | 0.680 | 0.011 |
25 | 19 | Lorenzo Dalla Porta | Kalex | 1:37.426 | 0.972 | 0.292 |
26 | 33 | Rory Skinner | Kalex | 1:37.642 | 1.188 | 0.216 |
27 | 72 | Borja Gomez | Kalex | 1:37.827 | 1.373 | 0.185 |
28 | 28 | Izan Guevara | Kalex | 1:37.879 | 1.425 | 0.052 |
29 | 17 | Alex Escrig | Forward | 1:38.500 | 2.046 | 0.621 |