Bo Bendsneyder starts the Qatar Grand Prix tomorrow from the second row of the grid. Fifth place in the qualification was the best result so far for both Bendsneyder and NTS RW Racing GP in the Moto2. Jesko Raffin starts the race from 22nd place, starting at 18.00 h local time. Bo Bendsneyder rode a superb qualification. In his fourth lap at the Losail International Circuit, he set a time of 1.58,410; good for second place at that time. With eight minutes to go, the Dutchman, who turned 21 last Wednesday, approached his time a few times, but he could not prevent dropping to fifth. In the third free practice session, earlier in the afternoon, he had already secured Q2 with a tenth place in the rankings of the three combined practices.
Jesko Raffin improved considerably in both FP3 and Q1 qualifying compared to Friday. His time of 1.59.232 was good for eighth in Q1 and so he starts from the 22nd place on the grid Sunday evening.
#64 Bo Bendsneyder: “I am super happy with this fifth place. Especially because it was not an exception: we are in a good position all weekend. It was just a very good lap. But we must remain realistic. It was just the qualification. Tomorrow is the race and that’s what it’s all about. The goal is to give everything and to get the best possible result. I have to thank my team and NTS very much for this. They worked really hard this winter and during the tests to give me the best possible bike and that effort proved successful.”
Results Q1 & Q2 combined:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
1 | Joe ROBERTS | American Racing | 1’58.136 |
2 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’58.136 |
3 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’58.243 |
4 | Jorge NAVARRO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 1’58.316 |
5 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’58.410 |
6 | Remy GARDNER | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’58.457 |
7 | Marco BEZZECCHI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’58.513 |
8 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’58.532 |
9 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’58.582 |
10 | Xavi VIERGE | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’58.626 |
11 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 1’58.640 |
12 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’58.683 |
13 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’58.706 |
14 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’58.738 |
15 | Nicolo BULEGA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’58.785 |
16 | Aron CANET | Aspar Team | 1’58.795 |
17 | Edgar PONS | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’59.136 |
18 | Thomas LUTHI | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’59.284 |
19 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’58.961 |
20 | Jake DIXON | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’59.051 |
21 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’59.214 |
22 | Jesko RAFFIN | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’59.232 |
23 | Hector GARZO | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’59.432 |
24 | Marcos RAMIREZ | American Racing | 1’59.548 |
25 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Aspar Team | 1’59.703 |
26 | Andi Farid IZDIHAR | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 2’00.218 |
27 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Italtrans Racing Team | 2’00.347 |
28 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 2’00.364 |
29 | Kasma Daniel KASMAYUDIN | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 2’01.617 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com