Agius storms into row 3 in qualifying at Le Mans, Binder on row 7
In bright sunshine and uncharacteristically warm temperatures for Le Mans, the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 team enjoyed an extremely exciting qualifying session, in which Senna Agius mastered the leap from Q1 and was able to claim a strong eighth place on row 3 in Q2. Darryn Binder finished 5th in Qualifying 1, which meant 19th place on the grid in row 7 for him.
Reason for joy for Senna Agius - the Australian reached new heights in qualifying at Le Mans. The 18-year-old was in a solid midfield position in the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning and therefore had to start first in Qualifying 1. The Moto2 rookie set a 1'35.726, which put him in third position just 0.289s behind the fastest rider and paved his way into the fiercely contested Q2. Agius only had a few minutes to catch his breath before the final 15 minutes of the day began in midsummer temperatures. After only a short time, he moved his Kalex up to a promising fifth place before a small crash ended his qualifying early. However, the strong preparatory work secured the rider with the number 81 a great eighth place on the grid for the fifth race of the season, into which he will start with a lot of confidence.
On Darryn Binder's side, the weekend at the Bugatti Circuit began with a rather difficult Friday, although things pointed in the right direction again on Saturday. The South African worked intensively on improvements. In Q1, he only just missed out on advancing to Q2 in fifth position. His 1'35.947 ultimately gave him 19th place on the grid in row seven, which will once again make Sunday's race no easy endeavour for him. In the past, the former MotoGP rider has impressively demonstrated on several occasions that he always has a competitive race pace and can make up a lot of ground and points with a good start and a strong fightback.
The lights will go out for the 22-lap Moto2 race on Sunday at 12:15 (CEST), heralding an action-packed fifth round of the season.
RESULTS
Free Practice
1. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.556
2. Fermin ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.711 (+0.155)
3. Joe ROBERTS/ USA/ KALEX – 1'35.940 (+0.384)
16. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'36.654 (+1.098)
19. Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX – 1'36.904 (+1.348)
P1
1. Sergio GARCIA/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.473
2. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.549 (+0.076)
3. Fermin ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.765 (+0.292)
12. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'36.295 (+0.822)
24. Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX – 1'37.125 (+1.652)
P2
1. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.868
2. Sergio GARCIA/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.095 (+0.227)
3. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.110 (+0.242)
19. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.789 (+0.921)
21. Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX – 1'35.967 (+1.099)
Q1
1. Zonta VD GOORBERGH/ NED/ KALEX – 1'35.437
2. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.461 (+0.024)
3. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.726 (+0.289)
5. Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX – 1'35.947 (+0.510)
Q2
1. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.037
2. Joe ROBERTS/ USA/ KALEX – 1'35.173 (+0.136)
3. Sergio GARCIA/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.248 (+0.211)
8. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – 1'35.610 (+0.573)
