As good and hopeful as Friday was at the Circuit de Catalunya, as disappointing was Saturday for Bo Bendsneyder and NTS RW Racing GP. Top 10 times were way out of reach, nor was there a chance to fight for Q2. On the contrary. Bendsneyder starts the GP of Catalunya from 28th place, only two places ahead of his teammate Piotr Biesiekirski. On Friday it almost seemed a certainty that Bendsneyder could compete for a place in the first four rows, with his eleventh place after two free practices. In the third free practice however, on Saturday morning, he was unable to reach Friday’s times. Only at the end of practice he could reach 1.44.509, but that was good for only twentieth place. At NTS RW Racing GP there was still quite some hope that Bendsneyder could still get into the second qualifying round via Q1, but that hope was lost. With 1.45.114, the Dutchman finished in 14th place in Q1, which means he has to start the Moto2 race from 28th on the grid.
Teammate Piotr Biesiekirski starts from place 30. The young Pole managed to improve his times in both sessions. First to 1.46.195 in FP3 and in Q1 he dipped below 46 for the first time by putting 1.45.679 on the clock.
All races will start one hour later than usual on Sunday, which means that the Moto2 will start at 13.20 CET.
Bo Bendsneyder: “In FP3 we started with new tires front and rear, to set a time immediately. But from the first lap on it felt really bad and it felt like I was riding on ice. I had zero grip. We therefore decided to use the old tires from yesterday and with those I was able to ride 44.5 within three laps. Later it turned out that there was something wrong with the rear tire, and Dunlop has confirmed it. Problem solved, you would think, but in Q1 I immediately again had a very strange feeling, very little grip and vibrations when entering corners. I cannot explain why the feeling was so different from yesterday. I don’t understand myself either.”
Q1 & Q2 combined:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’43.355 |
| 2 | Jorge NAVARRO | HDR Heidrun Speed Up | 1’43.536 |
| 3 | Sam LOWES | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’43.637 |
| 4 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | HDR Heidrun Speed Up | 1’43.652 |
| 5 | Jake DIXON | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’43.704 |
| 6 | Marco BEZZECCHI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’43.714 |
| 7 | Joe ROBERTS | Tennor American Racing | 1’43.741 |
| 8 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Tennor American Racing | 1’43.863 |
| 9 | Xavi VIERGE | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’43.871 |
| 10 | Remy GARDNER | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’43.874 |
| 11 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’43.908 |
| 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’43.916 |
| 13 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’43.956 |
| 14 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’44.046 |
| 15 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’44.243 |
| 16 | Nicolò BULEGA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’44.349 |
| 17 | Edgar PONS | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’44.410 |
| 18 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’44.434 |
| 19 | Aron CANET | Inde Aspar Team Moto2 | 1’44.113 |
| 20 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’44.207 |
| 21 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’44.364 |
| 22 | Hector GARZO | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’44.426 |
| 23 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’44.455 |
| 24 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’44.494 |
| 25 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Inde Aspar Team Moto2 | 1’44.643 |
| 26 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’44.659 |
| 27 | Kasma DANIEL | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’45.038 |
| 28 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’45.114 |
| 29 | Andi Farid IZDIHAR | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’45.323 |
| 30 | Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’45.679 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com
