Moto2 France: perfect timing brings Fernandez first pole

Raul Fernandez put in a considered performance, made the right tyre choices and read the mixed on track conditions perfectly to claim his first pole since making the move up to Moto2 ahead of the French Grand Prix, round five of the championship.

After a tentative start, with the whole class sat in their garages trying to decide on the right tyre after a dry Q1, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was not amongst those to attempt their first laps on slicks, so made the most of his extra wet track time while his rivals dipped back into the pits for a tyre change.

Learning where the wet and dry patches were was key to being able to push for the best time. Fernandez did this incredibly well on the Kalex and avoided the rush of fallers late in the session to lead the way.

A late effort from Joe Roberts briefly displaced the Spaniard from the number one spot, but he rallied on his final lap for a 1m 50.135s and pole.

Marco Bezzecchi went about his session quietly and left it to the last minute to put his best lap together and move up to second for Sky Racing Team VR46, 0.240s slower than Fernandez.

The final front row spot went to Roberts, who was the Le Mans pole man back in 2020 and graduated from Q1 today with the best time, on the Italtrans.

Aron Canet also saw late progress to move into fourth for Inde Aspar, and was the best of the non Kalex riders on the Boscoscuro.

Augusto Fernandez’s session ran a similar pattern, his final effort elevated him from eleventh to fifth for Elf Marc VDS.

Bo Bendsneyder looked to have benefited from having an arm pump operation between rounds and was back to his best in sixth for SAG Team.

Championship leader and Jerez polesitter Remy Gardner had a solid session, but couldn’t match pole pace, the Red Bull rider was just over a second off the top time in seventh.

Hector Garzo claimed eight for Flexbox Hp 40, with his team-mate Stefano Manzi ninth.

Sam Lowes tried slicks first, but as the weather worsened, it didn’t work out. Last season’s winner at Le Mans, the Marc VDS man will need to make moves from tenth if he wants to repeat the feat this year in France.

Outside the top ten, Lorenzo Baldassarri put in the 13th best time, but will be demoted a place on race day to complete his penalty for lining up in the wrong grid slot in Jerez, where he started from where Somkiat Chantra qualified instead of in his own spot.

The Q2 session was peppered with crashes in the tricky conditions with Ai Ogura, Marcel Schrotter, Jorge Navarro, Baldassarri and Simone Corsi all hitting the gravel in quick succession. Marcos Ramirez also took a tumble earlier in the afternoon in Q1.

Jake Dixon, who lead much of last season’s French Moto2 race, failed to make it out of that session, where he finished 12th, which sees him line up 26th on the grid.

MB Conveyors Speed Up replaced Yari Montella after he was ruled out with a right wrist fracture following his Friday fall. Alonso Lopez answered the late call up, already riding a Boscoscuro in the CEV, he made his Moto2 debut in FP3 and finished qualifying 17th in Q1.