Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Niccolo Antonelli took advantage of of drying conditions on a wet track to grab pole position Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas track in Texas. Antonelli's 2'31.346 was well off Friday's best FP2 time -- a full 15 seconds a lap slower -- but still left him half a second in front of second-place Raul Fernandez, who had advanced from Q1. Gabriel Rodrigo (3rd) continued his strong form for the final slot on the front row.
The mixed conditions left the field both jumbled positionally and with significant time gaps. Jaume Masia, winner at the prior race in Argentina, fought through the first qualifying session to take the lead position in the second row in fourth. Right behind him and also rising out of Q1 was Darryn Binder (5th) who finished second at the Termas de Rio Hondo track. Aron Canet, a crasher late in qualifying, slipped to take the final spot on the second row.
Tatsui Suzuki, 1.2 seconds from the leader, leads the third row just ahead of John McPhee (8th). Alonzo Lopez (9th) and Marcos Ramirez round out the top 10. Sunday has been predicted to be sunny and with a tewmperature of 74F or 23C.
Q2 Result:
* Riders in bold advanced from Q1
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POLE | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Honda | 2'31.346 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | 2'31.847 | 0.501 | 0.501 |
| 3 | 19 | Gabriel RODRIGO | Honda | 2'32.129 | 0.783 | 0.282 |
| 4 | 5 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | 2'32.144 | 0.798 | 0.015 |
| 5 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | KTM | 2'32.221 | 0.875 | 0.077 |
| 6 | 44 | Aron CANET | KTM | 2'32.548 | 1.202 | 0.327 |
| 7 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | 2'32.636 | 1.290 | 0.088 |
| 8 | 17 | John MCPHEE | Honda | 2'32.701 | 1.355 | 0.065 |
| 9 | 21 | Alonso LOPEZ | Honda | 2'33.032 | 1.686 | 0.331 |
| 10 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Honda | 2'33.213 | 1.867 | 0.181 |
| 11 | 48 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Honda | 2'33.305 | 1.959 | 0.092 |
| 12 | 55 | Romano FENATI | Honda | 2'33.357 | 2.011 | 0.052 |
| 13 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | 2'33.727 | 2.381 | 0.370 |
| 14 | 7 | Dennis FOGGIA | KTM | 2'34.784 | 3.438 | 1.057 |
| 15 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | 2'34.863 | 3.517 | 0.079 |
| 16 | 22 | Kazuki MASAKI | KTM | 2'35.456 | 4.110 | 0.593 |
| 17 | 71 | Ayumu SASAKI | Honda | 2'36.299 | 4.953 | 0.843 |
| 18 | 14 | Tony ARBOLINO | Honda | 2'36.531 | 5.185 | 0.232 |
Q1 Result:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | KTM | 2'33.777 | ||
| Q2 | 5 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | 2'34.250 | 0.473 | 0.473 |
| Q2 | 25 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | 2'34.253 | 0.476 | 0.003 |
| Q2 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Honda | 2'34.376 | 0.599 | 0.123 |
| 19 | 79 | Ai OGURA | Honda | 2'36.443 | 2.666 | 2.067 |
| 20 | 61 | Can ONCU | KTM | 2'36.490 | 2.713 | 0.047 |
| 21 | 13 | Celestino VIETTI | KTM | 2'36.704 | 2.927 | 0.214 |
| 22 | 76 | Makar YURCHENKO | KTM | 2'36.719 | 2.942 | 0.015 |
| 23 | 69 | Tom BOOTH-AMOS | KTM | 2'37.383 | 3.606 | 0.664 |
| 24 | 27 | Kaito TOBA | Honda | 2'37.742 | 3.965 | 0.359 |
| 25 | 11 | Sergio GARCIA | Honda | 2'38.827 | 5.050 | 1.085 |
| 26 | 54 | Riccardo ROSSI | Honda | 2'40.118 | 6.341 | 1.291 |
| 27 | 81 | Aleix VIU | KTM | 2'40.356 | 6.579 | 0.238 |
| 28 | 12 | Filip SALAC | KTM | 2'40.408 | 6.631 | 0.052 |
| 29 | 77 | Vicente PEREZ | KTM | 2'40.528 | 6.751 | 0.120 |