MARTIN ON POLE WITH RECORD LAP AT JEREZ
It has been the perfect Saturday for Jorge Martin and Team Del Conca Gresini Moto3 at Circuito de Jerez. On board his Honda NSF250RW machine, the 19-year-old Spaniard logged a spectacular 1’46.004secs lap-time in today’s qualifying to take his second pole position of the season. On his way to the very front of the grid, Martin has also raised the bar of performances around the 4.4km Andalusian track by wiping out Jack Miller’s previous circuit best lap – which was standing since 2014 – and placing 0.4secs between himself and the rider in second place.
Fabio Di Giannantonio had a much more difficult day at the office, as he finished qualifying in 11th position with a 0.8secs gap from the top. After a competitive start to the session, the young Italian was unable to improve his performance in the second half and, therefore, will start the 23-lap encounter from row four.
Team Manager Fausto Gresini is obviously extremely happy with Martin’s performance: “I’m really happy for Jorge. This is his second pole position and the proof that everything is going the right way. It’s going to be a classic Moto3 race, though, with a big group of riders battling at the front, but he’s got the pace to stay up there and challenge for the win. Fabio had a more complicated session, but he turns into a very different rider when he lines up on the grid. He’s a race animal!
The Moto3 Spanish Grand Prix will get underway at 11:00 local time (GMT +2)
JORGE MARTIN #88 – POLE POSITION
“I’m very happy. It has been a great day and it feels good to be on pole position for the second time this year. I’m even happier of our pace with the hard tyre, which is the most important thing. The bike is perfect in this configuration, so I’m ready to go for the best possible race!”
11th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #21
“We had other goals for this qualifying session: we wanted to be in the first two rows of the grid but obviously that didn’t happen. It’s a shame, because I felt good in my first outing; in the second one I pushed at my very best, but I simply could not improve. There’s still some work to do in order to be ready for the race; we might not have the best position on the grid, but with a little step forward we could get in the mix for honours.”
