Jorge Navarro and Maria Herrera to start from fourth and eleventh at Phillip Island, Fabio Quartararo from twenty-second.
Saturday saw an exciting qualifying session in Moto3 at Phillip Island, in which Repsol riders Jorge Navarro and Maria Herrera put in a good performance. They have been very comfortable and fast at this track over the weekend, and will start the race from first and fourth row, and Quartararo from eighth.
The Spaniard led the way in the afternoon for more than half of the session, but in the final minutes, when using new tyres to try to lower his times, the heavy traffic on track prevented him from doing so. Navarro eventually set the fifth best time, although a penalty imposed by Race Direction to several riders, including QP timesheet topper Danny Kent, moved him up to fourth on the grid.
Fabio Quartararo continues to recover gradually from his injured right ankle. The Frenchman finished the qualifying session nineteenth fastest today, but yesterday he was one of the riders penalised for slowing down during practice –leading to a sanction of 3 positions today. He drops from the seventh to the eighth row of the grid, in twenty-second.
Maria Herrera performed well on Saturday at a circuit that is very much to their liking. The Repsol rider enjoyed a good qualifying session, in which she took advantage of the critical slipstreams and claimed the eighth quickest lap time. She was also sanctioned by Race Direction and drops three positions, moving from the third row to the fourth.
The Moto3 race tomorrow at Phillip Island takes place at 1pm local time -4am CET.
Fabio Quartararo– 19th, 1:37.429,35 laps,156 km
The first two runs I did in the qualifying session, I had a couple of riders alongside me and it was hard to get on the pace, but on the third attempt it seemed like we were in a race with all the people that were on track, and I did a lot better. I decided to give everything on one of these laps and I did the first sector ‒the one I was finding hardest‒ very well, but on the third sector another rider got onto my line and knocked me off the track. I think I could have improved by two or three tenths. I will try to finish the race tomorrow. My ankle is better, but when I want to push, I feel it hurting a little; we will have to fight this.”
Jorge Navarro-5th,1:36.705,35 laps,156 km
“I was leading the way for most of the session, but when we fitted the last tyre I did not have a clear track to be able to push and I found traffic on sectors 3 and 4. With the new rules, we couldn’t ease off the throttle to leave a space because I could have been penalised three positions on the grid, so I had to wait and keep in the group. That meant I could not set any more clean laps. I’m happy with the work we have done over the weekend. Yesterday was good, but I think we have taken a step forward today and I feel more comfortable with the bike. The goal tomorrow will be to start well, fight in the leading group and see if we can get another podium.”
Maria Herrera-8th,1:36.960,32 laps,142 km
“This morning I improved my time by more than a second and I felt comfortable on the bike. Nevertheless, we still had plenty of room for improvement; I focused on lowering my times in qualifying and I think it went very well. I caught two slipstreams, something that is very important at this circuit, and I set a good lap. I have pace with used tyres and am looking forward to the race tomorrow, in which we will need a good start. If I can slot into the front group I think I can learn a lot, because I have the chance to be up with the fastest riders. If I can stand the pace, I will be able to see how a race is run at the front.”
