Submitted by Zara Daniela on
The forecast for Saturday did not quite predict how hot the asphalt would be for the intermediate class qualifying session and things got even hotter throughout – although more literally than metaphorically. Tetsuta Nagashima put his name at top of the timesheets on only his third lap and then turned provisional pole into a fantastic actual pole that improved on the lightweight class’ lap record around the Red Bull Ring. The Japanese rider’s achievement was seven hundredths of a second better than Brad Binder's, the South African finishing second on the grid. Perhaps as big of a surprise as pole came from the man in third, Somkiat Chantra turning an excellent showing in practice into a first front row start for the former Asia Talent Cup champion.
Enea Bastianini came close to breaking the Thai rider’s heart but the Italian had to settle for fourth, two tenths off pole and showing the way on row two to Tom Luthi and Lorenzo Baldassarri. Xavi Vierge is back at the fun end of the grid in seventh, one tenth of a second faster than Jorge Navarro and another seven thousandths keeping Remy Gardner at the back of row three.
Luca Marini went through Q1 to complete the top ten and will start the race ahead of championship leader Alex Marquez, who will hope to limit the damage after an underwhelming qualifying session for the Spaniard. Row four will be completed by Jorge Martin, while fellow rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio will have to put together quite a comeback from 18th grid position if he wants to replicate last week’s results.
Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | 1'28.718 | ||
| 2 | 41 | Brad BINDER | KTM | 1'28.791 | 0.073 | 0.073 |
| 3 | 35 | Somkiat CHANTRA | Kalex | 1'28.856 | 0.138 | 0.065 |
| 4 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | Kalex | 1'28.903 | 0.185 | 0.047 |
| 5 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | 1'28.924 | 0.206 | 0.021 |
| 6 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | 1'28.948 | 0.230 | 0.024 |
| 7 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | 1'28.956 | 0.238 | 0.008 |
| 8 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | Speed Up | 1'28.969 | 0.251 | 0.013 |
| 9 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | Kalex | 1'28.976 | 0.258 | 0.007 |
| 10 | 10 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | 1'29.004 | 0.286 | 0.028 |
| 11 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | 1'29.012 | 0.294 | 0.008 |
| 12 | 88 | Jorge MARTIN | KTM | 1'29.061 | 0.343 | 0.049 |
| 13 | 40 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | 1'29.067 | 0.349 | 0.006 |
| 14 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | 1'29.092 | 0.374 | 0.025 |
| 15 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | Kalex | 1'29.118 | 0.400 | 0.026 |
| 16 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | 1'29.437 | 0.719 | 0.319 |
| 17 | 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | 1'29.538 | 0.820 | 0.101 |
| 18 | 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Speed Up | 1'29.682 | 0.964 | 0.144 |
| Q1 Results: | ||||||
| Q2 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | 1'29.139 | ||
| Q2 | 10 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | 1'29.346 | 0.207 | 0.207 |
| Q2 | 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | 1'29.374 | 0.235 | 0.028 |
| Q2 | 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Speed Up | 1'29.382 | 0.243 | 0.008 |
| 19 | 11 | Nicolo BULEGA | Kalex | 1'29.410 | 0.271 | 0.028 |
| 20 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta | 1'29.549 | 0.410 | 0.139 |
| 21 | 62 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta | 1'29.560 | 0.421 | 0.011 |
| 22 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | Kalex | 1'29.587 | 0.448 | 0.027 |
| 23 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS | 1'29.632 | 0.493 | 0.045 |
| 24 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Kalex | 1'29.651 | 0.512 | 0.019 |
| 25 | 72 | Marco BEZZECCHI | KTM | 1'29.809 | 0.670 | 0.158 |
| 26 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | 1'29.948 | 0.809 | 0.139 |
| 27 | 96 | Jake DIXON | KTM | 1'30.071 | 0.932 | 0.123 |
| 28 | 4 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS | 1'30.101 | 0.962 | 0.030 |
| 29 | 16 | Joe ROBERTS | KTM | 1'30.728 | 1.589 | 0.627 |
| 30 | 3 | Lukas TULOVIC | KTM | 1'30.963 | 1.824 | 0.235 |
| 31 | 19 | Teppei NAGOE | Kalex | 1'31.008 | 1.869 | 0.045 |
| 32 | 18 | Xavi CARDELUS | KTM | 1'31.186 | 2.047 | 0.178 |
