2022 Assen Moto3 Qualifying Result: Surprises, Good And Bad

The sun had hidden behind light grey clouds by the time the qualifying show was opened by the lightweight class, but that did not stop lap times from nearing lap record pace. Although Izan Guevara has been the man of the moment of late – and as recent as FP3 this morning – the battle for pole ended up being an all-Japanese affair. After Tatsuki Suzuki led the way at the start of Q2, the Leopard racing rider took a tumble in the final couple of minutes of the session and, right on cue, compatriot Ayumu Sasaki robbed him of pole by six hundredths of a second. Guevara was a threat as well, but the Spaniard encountered yellow flags at the wrong time and had to settle for the final place on the front row. While he might have missed out on pole position, Guevara won’t be too upset to see teammate and title rival Sergio Garcia in a lacklustre 18th grid position after a pretty anonymous Q2.

Rookie David Muñoz continues his impressive debut in the world championship, this time with fourth on the grid, opening the second row from the much more experienced Dennis Foggia and Jaume Masia. Adrian Fernandez made a successful escape from Q1 to climb as high as seventh on the grid, sharing third row with Lorenzo Fellon – the Frenchman particularly impressive after the heavy tumble suffered in the morning session – and fellow Q1 graduate Xavier Artigas. Joel Kelso completed the top 10 positions, ahead of John McPhee, who joined the crash list at turn one in the final couple of minutes of Q2, and Q1 leader Dani Holgado, who will have a long lap penalty to serve for crashing under yellow flags in FP3.

Ryusei Yamanaka, Stefano Nepa and Andrea Migno make up row five, with championship leader Garcia at the back of row six, behind Riccardo Rossi and Deniz Öncü. He will have some threats from behind as well, from the likes of Diogo Moreira, who missed out on Q2 by one tenth of a second, and some other excellent rookies, such as Ivan Ortolá or Scott Ogden.

Results: