Joe Roberts earned pole position during Moto2 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Lusail International Circuit, in Doha, Qatar. Riding his Italtrans Racing Kalex, the American covered the recently repaved 3.4-mile (5.4 km) circuit in 1:57.305, breaking the All-Time Lap Record of 1:57.895 set by Fermin Aldeguar hours earlier in Free Practice Three.
Celestino Vietti was second-best with a 1:57.312 on his Fantic Racing Kalex, and Aron Canet claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:57.333 on his Pons Wegow Los40 Kalex.
Roberts’ countryman Sean Dylan Kelly (SDK) qualified 26th with a time of 1:58.955 on his Forward Team racebike.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Roberts grabs last gasp record pole from Vietti
Italtrans Racing’s Joe Roberts will start on pole position for Sunday’s Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar after setting a new all-time lap record at Lusail – a 1:57.305 – to beat Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) by just 0.007s. The Italian fought his way up from Q1 to bag himself a spot in the middle of the front row, as Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) gets set to line up alongside them on the front row after the Spaniard finished just 0.021s behind Vietti to take 3rd place in Q2.
Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) has been the rider of the moment since the green flag dropped on Friday but the Spaniard had to settle for P4, with the #54 joined on the second row by British riders Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) – the duo powering their Triumph machines to 5th and 6th respectively.
The third row of the grid is headed by the 2023 World Champion Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo). The #37 has compatriots Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) and Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp) for company as the trio claimed 7th, 8th, and 9th, with Alonso Lopez (BetaTools SpeedUp) settling for P10 after his flying lap came to an abrupt end with the red flag coming out in the final 30 seconds.
Make sure not to miss any of the Moto2™ action set to commence on Sunday at 18:15 local time (GMT +3).
