Repsol riders take pole and second on the grid in a rain-interrupted qualifying session. Maria Herrera also reacts quickly before downpour and will start tomorrow from a personal best eleventh.
The Repsol riders put in a great performance in the Moto3 qualifying session at Le Mans, in which Fabio Quartararo took pole position in front of his home fans. His teammate, Jorge Navarro, was second, and Maria Herrera, eleventh, in a qualifying session that only lasted five minutes –the only time that the track was dry.
With the imminent arrival of rain, the Repsol riders were very attentive as to what they had to do. All three went out on track quickly to seek early fast times, despite the risks that entailed. Quartararo, Navarro and Herrera pushed on the first two laps, the Frenchman setting a best lap of 1:44.763. Navarro was 0.122 back and Herrera just over 2 seconds.
On the third lap the rain began to soak the asphalt and on the fourth, Quartararo and Navarro crashed. Fortunately they escaped unharmed from their respective falls. Herrera took advantage of the moment, taking the eleventh fastest time of the day. Tomorrow she will start from the fourth row of the grid.
The Moto3 race will be held on Sunday morning at 11:00am local time.
Fabio Quartararo, 1st 1:44.763 sec, 22 laps, 92 km.
“I am very happy, because despite the crash the day went quite well and we managed the best time. It was a very good lap, considering the weather. It was a good day for the team because Jorge [Navarro] has also taken second position. Tomorrow we will try to make a small leading group, taking advantage of the fact that Kent is starting far back. We will try to push hard so he doesn’t catch us. It has been very exciting to get pole here, because in Spain there were not so many fans supporting me and I notice it a lot here. I think I have a good pace for the race and that we can do well.”
Jorge Navarro, 2nd 1:44.885 sec, 23 laps, 96 km.
“It was a very strange qualifying session; just before the start, it began to spit with rain and the team made it clear that we had to push early. On the first lap I saw that the rain was increasing in intensity; I knew I could not slow down my pace and I set a good time, which allowed me to take second. On the next lap, when I arrived at the first corner, I saw that Fabio [Quartararo] had crashed and I tried to go slower –but I also went down. This is the first time I’ve been on the front row in the World Championship.”
María Herrera, 11ª 1:46.885 seg, 20 vueltas, 84 km.
“I am happy with the position that I will start from tomorrow; the fourth row is very positive and if I can stay with a group at the front, I’m sure I will learn a lot. I feel very comfortable on this track, but we are still working on the setup of the bike. In addition, due to the rain we could not do more tests. In the morning session I could tell I was lacking laps on this track, but by the end I felt much better.”
