Manuel Gonzalez takes sensational pole in Thailand, Senna Agius strong fourth
It's a perfect start for the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP team in scorching hot Thailand after Manuel Gonzalez bluntly snatched pole position in the first qualifying session of the year. Team-mate Senna Agius followed close behind in fourth place on row two.
After successful pre-season tests, the course was set for the start of the season, but the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, with its extremely high humidity and asphalt temperatures that scratch the 40° and 60°C mark, offers far different conditions than European circuits in winter. The results that the Intact GP duo delivered on Friday already were all the more impressive.
Manuel Gonzalez did not hesitate for long. Already in FP1 on Friday morning, the Spaniard delivered the best time with a 1'34.591 and thus broke the all-time lap record. On Friday afternoon, he then secured second place in what was now the only decisive practice session for qualifying. As a result, he went into the qualifying day on the 4.55-kilometre track as second fastest and continued to work hard on his pace. This effort paid off in Qualifying 2, as the 22-year-old Gonzalez remained unbeaten once again with a 1'34.634 and will therefore start the first race of the season as the ultimate pole setter, for which the curtain will fall on Sunday, 2nd March at 13:15 local time (07:15 CET).
Directly behind Gonzalez the Australian Senna Agius will line up, whose performance was just as good. With a qualifying time of 1'34.873, just 0.034s separated the 19-year-old in fourth place from the front row of the grid and the 0.239s to the top are also marginal. Last year's Moto2 rookie showed successive improvements across all sessions and finished ninth in the decisive practice session on Friday and thus went into Q2 directly. With a strong pace and a good feeling, Senna Agius is now looking forward to the 22-lap race, which will undoubtedly be exhausting.
Results
FP1
1. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.591
2. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KALEX – 1'34.871 (+0.280)
3. Diogo MOREIRA/ BRA/ KALEX – 1'35.192 (+0.601)
8. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.505 (+0.914)
PR
1. Diogo MOREIRA/ BRA/ KALEX – 1'35.030
2. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.088 (+0.058)
3. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KALEX – 1'35.228 (+0.198)
9. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.422 (+0.392)
FP2
1. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KALEX – 1'34.720
2. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.775 (+0.055)
3. Zonta VD GOORBERGH/ NED/ KALEX – 1'34.951 (+0.231)
7. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.133 (+0.413)
18. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.502 (+0.782)
Q2
1. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.634
2. Celestino VIETTI/ ITA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'34.670 (+0.036)
3. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.839 (+0.205)
4. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'34.873 (+0.239)
