2018 Motegi Moto2 Qualifying Result: Start As You Mean To Go On

Nearly clear skies welcomed the intermediate class for the final rapid rodeo of the day and championship leader Pecco Bagnaia was quick to show his intentions by setting camp at the top of the timesheets and leaving his rivals struggling to get within half a second of the leader. Challengers were few throughout the session and the only real moves in the field came with ten minutes remaining so Bagnaia could rely on his early time to secure yet anther convincing pole position.

Fabio Quartararo came closest to showing intentions to the premier position but even with a couple of late personal best laps he could not really threaten pole, finishing second, his Speed Up machine one and a half tenths off the leader. This demoted Iker Lecuona to a still impressive third grid position, holding off a late charging Marcel Schrotter. The German will have to settle for row two, which will be shared with Lorenzo Baldasarri and Alex Marquez, the trio all within half a second of Bagnaia.

Xavi Vierge made some progress to secure seventh grid position ahead of Tetsuta Nagashima, while Miguel Oliveira could only climb as high as ninth. Starting from row three is certainly not an unfamiliar position for the Portuguese rider and he is a proved fast starter but the KTM man is not making his task any easier in the title fight. Teammate Brad Binder will have his back from row four, ahead of Luca Marini and Augusto Fernandez.

Remy Gardner, Joan Mir and Jorge Navarro had an underwhelming afternoon on row five, but probably not as bad as Sam Lowes’ in 19th or Mattia Pasini’s sizeable task from 21st on the grid and one second down on Bagnaia.

Results: