Muñoz celebrates pole position in US qualifying
David Muñoz brought a lot of excitement for the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Team on a sunny qualifying Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas. With an impressive last lap in Q2, he secured his first pole position, while his team-mate Guido Pini also achieved a remarkable starting position for his third Grand Prix with 12th place on the fourth row of the grid.
After a difficult start from the pit lane at the Argentinian GP, 18-year-old Spaniard David Muñoz has now achieved an impressive turnaround at the Circuit of the Americas. On the 5.51 km track just outside the Texan metropolis of Austin, he set an exclamation mark in Q2 with a time of 2'14.422 on the 42°C hot tarmac. The changeable conditions on Friday - characterised by rain and cooler temperatures - made the decisive practice session particularly challenging. Nevertheless, Muñoz qualified confidently for Q2 in fifth place, where he ultimately finished as the pole setter. This makes him the rider to beat in the 14-lap Moto3 thriller on Sunday at 11:00 local time (18:00 CET).
Guido Pini was delighted with the challenging track in Texas, which he explored for the first time on his KTM on Friday. Despite difficult conditions in the wet FP1, the Moto3 rookie achieved a 5th place, but fell back in the still damp qualifying session and consequently had to go into Q1. On Saturday, in dry conditions, the 17-year-old Italian improved his performance significantly and finally entered Q2 as second fastest with a time of 2'15.011. There he utilised the pace and slipstream of his team-mate and secured himself the twelfth place on the grid in row four for only his third Grand Prix.
The LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Moto3 team is therefore going into race day with a lot of confidence, ready to convert the strong qualifying performance into a successful race and the first championship points of the season.
Results
FP1
1. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ KTM – 2'23.298
2. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 2'24.107 (+0.809)
3. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 2'24.169 (+0.871)
5. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 2'24.690 (+1.392)
6. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 2'25.031 (+1.733)
PR
1. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 2'23.704
2. Maximo QUILES/ SPA/ KTM – 2'24.181 (+0.477)
3. Scott OGDEN/ GBR/ KTM – 2'24.369 (+0.665)
5. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 2'24.532 (+0.828)
18. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 2'26.134 (+2.430)
FP2
1. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 2'15.695
2. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ KTM – 2'15.976 (+0.281)
3. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 2'16.218 (+0.523)
12. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 2'17.069 (+1.374)
16. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 2'17.389 (+1.694)
Q1
1. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 2'14.667
2. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 2'15.011 (+0.344)
3. Dennis FOGGIA/ ITA/ KTM – 2'15.041 (+0.374)
4. Stefano NEPA/ ITA/ HONDA – 2'15.117 (+0.450)
Q2
1. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 2'14.422
2. Maximo QUILES/ SPA/ KTM – 2'14.532 (+0.110)
3. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 2'14.546 (+0.124)
12. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 2'15.301 (+0.879)
