Honda ride Suzuki On Moto3 Pole At Mugello
Autodromo Internazionale del MugelloTatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) scored his second pole position of 2021 with a superb final lap at the end of this afternoon’s Moto3 Q2 qualifying session.
The 23-year-old from Chiba used the excellent top speed and fine handling of his NSF250RW to break the all-time Moto3 lap record, one of the most challenging circuits of the season. Suzuki was four tenths of a second better than his closest challenger – an aeon in the incredibly closely fought Moto3 category!
Honda riders dominated qualifying, with Suzuki leading three Hondas in the top four. Tomorrow Suzuki will be joined on the front row by Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3 Honda NSF250RW), who was third quickest. And fourth-fastest Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) will lead the second row.
Mugello first-timer Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) will start the sixth race of his rookie Moto3 season from 22nd on the grid. Last time out at Le Mans Izdihar scored his first World Championship point.
Tomorrow the 23-year-old Indonesian will chase more points in a race that will be dominated by the slipstream battle – with riders using the partial vacuum created by machines ahead of them to increase their own speed on Mugello’s 1.1km/0.7-mile start/finish straight.
Takuma Matsuyama (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) will start from 30th, after a crash at the start of the Q1 qualifying session spoiled his chances of a better grid position.
Matsuyama made his GP debut at Le Mans two weeks ago, as a wild-card entrant. This weekend the 16-year-old from Chiba rider replaces full-time World Championship rider Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW), who is recovering from a broken left collarbone, sustained at Le Mans.
This pole position gives me a lot of confidence, both for me and also for the team. They are working really for me, so I dedicate this pole to them. Tomorrow’s race will be tough – like always in Moto3! – especially because the straight here is so huge. In the last two or three races I have made mistakes which disappointed me, so tomorrow I will try to ride as well as I can.
We dedicated the day to continue learning the secrets of Mugello. We tried to adjust all the information we got from yesterday. The feeling is very nice. The lap time, I think, is more than OK, considering that it’s my first time at such a special track, but we're not ready enough to go with the front group. The target for tomorrow is to be constant with my pace.
In the FP3 session I improved my lap time a lot, by more than one second from yesterday. But in Q1, during my first flying lap, I suffered a big high side after opening too early the throttle at the last corner. That means I will start from last position. After visiting hospital I'm fit for tomorrow – I’ve just got a lot of pain in my foot.
