Title Contender Ogura On Front Row At Silverstone
Silverstone CircuitAi Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Kalex) started the second part of the season in the best possible way at sunny Silverstone today, taking a front row start for the British Moto2 round, following the paddock’s five-week mid-season break.
The 21-year-old from Tokyo has shown great pace here today, following a steadier start to the weekend yesterday, when he was seventh as he worked to get back into the groove after so long off a Moto2 bike. He ended qualifying just behind pole-position-man Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull Ajo Kalex) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex).
Ogura currently stands third in the 2022 Moto2 World Championship, only one point behind joint leaders Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team Kalex), who has been given a long-lap penalty for tomorrow following an incorrect practice start, and Fernandez, so the battle between these three over the next few weeks will be intense. Today Vietti qualified fifth quickest, so he will start from the second row of the grid.
The Italian youngster will be joined on row two by fourth-fastest Albert Arenas (GASGAS Aspar Team) and sixth-placed local star Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team). The top ten is completed by Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team Kalex), Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up Boscoscuro), Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP Kalex) and Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40 Kalex).
Ogura’s team-mate Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Kalex) did brilliantly to fight his way through from Q1 to Q2 but he found the going tougher in his second qualifying outing.
Moto2’s next stop is the Red Bull Ring, venue for the Austrian Grand Prix on 21 August.
I’m happy about the result of today. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be on the front row. Two or three riders are going very fast this weekend and I need a little more to be with them. They all look to have a good pace, but I need to analyse them more deeply. The grid position is crucial in Moto2. But when the race starts, everybody will be there. I will be focused on making a good start and giving my maximum.
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I’m happy because today we've improved bike set-up a lot and my feeling while riding was much better than yesterday, improving my lap time. I passed from Q1 to Q2, where I tried my best but made many mistakes, including opening the throttle too hard. I start from P16. I will continue working in warm-up to have the best bike possible for the race. I need to score points, and there are just nine races in this second part of the season.
