Despite nursing a shoulder injury, Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) produced the goods in a tricky Moto3™ Q2 session at the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini to claim pole position with a 1:42.448. The Turk beat Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by just 0.023s and third place Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) by 0.024s in a rain-effected 15-minute Q2.

Straight after we saw David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), Lorenzo Fellon, the Frenchman’s SIC58 Squadra Corse teammate Riccardo Rossi and Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3) come through Q1, light rain started to fall at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. The rain flags were still out when the Q2 runners rumbled out of pitlane, but it wasn’t heavy enough to head out on wet tyres – a tense 15 minutes were coming up for the Moto3™ pole position contenders.

The first laps were set as Moreira and Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) set identical times – a 1:44.254. But that time didn’t last long as the effort to beat. Rossi shot to P1 with a 1:43.195 to lead Öncü by just under a tenth, before Guevara set a new benchmark to lead the session by 0.108s with seven minutes to go.

The times were tumbling every lap as the riders got to grips with the iffy conditions. Moreira was back at the summit with Öncü second, with Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) going third. With a minute left, Guevara again made his way up to P1 but it was short-lived. Moreira and Yamanaka went 1-2 to shove Guevara to P3 with one last time attack available.

Pushing out of the final corner, Guevara lost the rear slightly and was unable to improve his time. However, Öncü produced a last lap stunner to claim pole position, and Holgado pinched second off Moreira as the top four were split by a slender 0.040s.

Yamanaka is the rider leading the second row of the grid in P4 as the Japanese rider missed out on a front row start by 0.016s. Guevara slipped to P5 by the end of the session with compatriot Carlos Tatay (CFMOTO Racing PrüstelGP) joining the rider second in the title race on the second row.

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) will launch from P7 on home turf, the Italian has John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) alongside him, while Fernandez rounded out the top 10 after progressing through Q1.

It was another difficult qualifying session for World Championship leader Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) as the Spaniard is forced to settle for P13 on the grid – work to do for Garcia, but he always brings an extra sprinkle of speed on race day.

Tune into the Moto3™ race at 11:00 local time (GMT+2) on Sunday morning! 

Top 10:
1. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) – 1:42.448
2. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.023
3. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.024
4. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.040
5. Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.161
6. Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PrustelGP) + 0.178
7. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.204
8. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.209
9. Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 0.295
10. Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) + 0.362