Bastianini Blows Field Away In Assen Qualifying

Jun 26, 2015
3 min read

Enea Bastianini will start tomorrow's Moto3 Dutch TT from pole position after a stunning lap of 1:41.283 – the fastest ever Moto3 lap of the TT Circuit Assen. The Gresini rider hasn't looked quite as quick as we normally see but was on it from off. Now raking up six 2nd places so far in 2015, can he finally take his first win of his career this weekend?

He'll have a job on his hands though, and one man keen to snatch that victory away from the Italian is EG 0,0 Honda's Jorge Navarro. The Spaniard has been in superb form all weekend, which is very impressive considering he has never ridden at this circuit before. He will start a very decent 2nd place having put in a lap of 1:41.618.

Karel Hanika completed the front row, his first ever in his career. The Red Bull Ajo KTM rider sat on pole provisionally for some time but dropped to 3rd in the closing minutes of qualifying. He's had a fairly tough time this year, so a podium tomorrow would be very timely indeed.

Danny Kent looked almost guaranteed for pole having dominated free practice leading into qualifying, but will start from 4th. Traffic towards the end of his first run didn't help things, but he just didn't have an answer for Bastianini's best effort. However, Kent's long run pace on the Leopard Racing Honda has been very strong, so he's still the man to beat tomorrow.

Isaac Vinales rounded out the top five, but may come under investigation from race direction after it appeared that he made contact with the Mapfre Mahindra of Francesco Bagnaia at turn nine with 15-minutes left on the clock. Bagnaia, incidentally, will start 10th despite losing track time.

Miguel Oliveira will start 6th with Fabio Quartararo 7th on his first visit to the Cathedral.

Romano Fenati was a disappointing 8th having looked very promising for a front row throughout practice, regularly ending up as Kent's closest challenger. The KTM has been working well here however, so the Italian will definitely be able to challenge for the podium tomorrow. Efren Vazquez will start alongside.

Maria Herrera impressed with her first points finish of her career last time out in Barcelona, and looks good for more points having qualified a very respectable 13th. Philipp Oettl and Livio Loi complete the top 15.

Niccolo Antonelli's afternoon was an absolute nightmare. The Italian crashed at turn nine six minutes into the session having just jumped inside the top ten. That time was subsequently cancelled due to exceeding track limits, so he was left with a broken bike and a back row in prospect. The Ongetta-Rivacold team heroically got his Honda fixed and back out on track for the final seven minutes for the Italian to salvage 19th. He'll be one to watch tomorrow as he aims to charge through the pack.

QP Top 10:

1st Enea Bastianini, Gresini Team Moto3 Honda, 1:41.283

2nd Jorge Navarro, EG 0,0 Honda, 1:41.618

3rd Karel Hanika, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:41.683

4th Danny Kent, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:41.699

5th Isaac Vinales, Husqvarna Factory Laglisse, 1:41.794

6th Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:41.805

7th Fabio Quartararo, EG 0,0 Honda, 1:41.811

8th Romano Fenati, SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM, 1:41.846

9th Efren Vazquez, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:41.980

10th Francesco Bagnaia, Mapfre Mahindra Team, 1:42.202

Full results can be found here: