Sam Lowes surprised in qualifying this Saturday (18) in Germany, and took his first pole position of the season in Moto2. Championship leader Celestino Vietti was only eighth
Sam Lowes saved a time of 1min23s493 for the final minutes to take pole position in qualifying on Saturday (18) for the German Moto2 GP. The Briton will start from the front row for the first time in the 2022 season.
Albert Arenas was close behind with 0.0272 seconds off the fastest time in the session. Augusto Fernández, who dominated Friday's free practice on the Sachsenring track, was third, followed by Jake Dixon. Marcel Schrotter and Aron Canet round out the top six.
Championship leader Celestino Vietti had a better Saturday than the one seen the day before, in free practice, but discreet. The Italian rider will start from the eighth position on the grid.
The Moto2 start of the German GP at Sachsenring is scheduled for 7:20 am (Brasilia time) on Sunday (19).GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 World Championship.
Q1: Vietti recovers after tough Friday in Germany
The leader of the championship, Vietti, had to face Q1 to get a place in the next qualifying round. He struggled in practice on Friday because of the high temperature on the Sachsering track and was only 24th on the combined timesheet.
Vietti therefore had to fight for the final four places to try to get a better grid position for the German GP, while main title rivals Ai Ogura and Canet were waiting to get on track for pole position.
When Moto2 took to the track, the asphalt temperature was already 50°C, with the thermometers reading 34°C and relative humidity at 24%. A worrying scenario, therefore, for those who had problems with the heat. But Vietti made the most of the power of his VR46 bike and was the first to lap around 1min23s in Q1, practically sealing his passport to the final part of the classification.
The closest to Vietti's time was Dixon's 1min24s013. Schrotter and Tony Arbolino were next, closing the group of four that would go to Q2. And the positions remained that way until the flag.
Q2: Lowes stuns and takes first Moto2 pole of 2022
After a quick break, the 18 riders remaining in qualifying set off for the 15 minutes that decided the starting grid position at Sachsenring. With the heat on the asphalt getting higher and higher, everyone took to the track, turning Q2 into a small preview of Sunday's race.
Arenas started in the lead with 1min23s765, pulling alongside Dixon, Canet, and Vietti. Schrotter then took third place. Up to that point, the top four, Arenas, Dixon, Schrotter and Canet were the only ones within 1min23s.
In contrast, Fernández, who had only himself as an opponent in Friday's free practice, was doing his best lap 0s955 away from Arenas' momentary pole position, and was only 16th. The leader Vietti was seventh.
With five minutes to go Lowes sped up and set a lap of 1min23s493, jumping to the lead. Fernández managed to get out of the back of the pack and lapped with 1min23s825, 0s332 seconds behind the fastest time of the session. The others tried to overtake him, but without success. Better Lowes, who will start from the position of honor in the race.