MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The lightweight class were ready for battle in the warmer afternoon of Motorland Aragon but ultimately there was only one gladiator up for the fight. While rivals were trying to find clever ways to chase the right slipstream, Raul Fernandez minded his own business and consolidated his advantage at the front of the pack. The Spaniard led the way throughout and secured his fifth pole position of the season by over two tenths of a second from the returning Tony Arbolino. The Italian chased the championship leader to climb to the middle of the front row, with compatriot Celestino Vietti completing the line-up.

Gabriel Rodrigo was the last rider to sneak out of Q1 and looked like securing a fine front row for much of Q2 but eventually got demoted to fourth, ahead of Albert Arenas and Ayumu Sasaki. Jaume Masia made a late jump onto the third row, where he will be joined by Kaito Toba, who benefitted from a bit of help from his poleman teammate, and Tatsuki Suzuki, who was six tenths off pole.

Ai Ogura completed the top ten and opens row four from Q1 leader Filip Salac and Dennis Foggia, while Romano Fenati, Jeremy Alcoba and Darryn Binder make up row five. Although he made it straight to Q2, John McPhee seemed to struggle during qualifying, only 17th fastest and starting his attack for the title from the middle of the sixth row, between Stefano Nepa and Deniz Oncu.

Results: