Garcia claims last gasp pole in Argentina

The Spaniard eventually sees off the competition by nearly two tenths in qualifying; Foggia outside the top 10

Sergio Garcia (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) claimed a last gasp pole position in Moto3™ qualifying at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina, as the Spaniard set a 1:48.429 to beat second place Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) – who has a Long Lap Penalty in Sunday’s race – by 0.171s. Izan Guevara (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) will launch from P3 to make it two GASGAS Aspar bikes on the front row.

Garcia masters last lap shootout

Having made his way through Q1, rookie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) made that extra 15 minutes of track time count in the early stages of Q2. The Australian sat top of the tree with a 1:48.940, a tenth faster than provisional second place Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing). World Championship leader Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) sat P3 halfway through the session, as 0.4s split the top 13.

As always, a lull in proceedings then prevailed as the riders headed back to their boxes to slot in some fresh Dunlop rubber. With all the waiting around, the field would only get one flying lap. There were red sectors everywhere but Garcia made his final lap count to take pole by nearly two tenths, with Sasaki grabbing P2 on his last lap, and third in the Championship Guevara slotting his GASGAS machine onto the front row.

Foggia struggles to P11

Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) left it late to come out of Q1 and his reward is a P4 starting slot for the Argentina GP, the Italian finished ahead of rookies Kelso and Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on the second row. Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) leapt up to P7 on his last lap to front Row 3, the Spaniard has Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Suzuki for company.

Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) – another rookie inside the top 10 – continues to impress to qualify in P10, the Brazilian has the experienced heads of title leader Foggia and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) alongside him on the fourth row.

Tune into the Moto3™ race on Sunday at 12:00 local time (GMT-3)!

Top 10:
1. Sergio Garcia (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) – 1:48.429
2. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.171
3. Izan Guevara (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.195
4. Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.297
5. Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) + 0.306
6. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.436
7. Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) + 0.514
8. Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 0.524
9. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.621
10. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.632

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Source: MotoGP.comRead Full Article Here

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