Muñoz chasing podium from row 3, Pini impresses on Japan debut in eleventh place
David Muñoz from LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP took seventh place in the Moto3 qualifying at the Mobility Resort Motegi. This means he will lead the third row of the grid on race Sunday. Team-mate Guido Pini finished eleventh in Q2 on his Japan debut, but will also start from the third row of the grid due to other grid penalties.
David Muñoz was already in impressive form on Friday. After finishing ninth in FP1, the 19-year-old catapulted himself to the top of the timesheets and went into the sunny Saturday as the qualifying favourite. In the morning FP2 session, the current fourth-placed rider in the World Championship finished fourth. Muñoz was also among the top riders in Q2 at the start, even leading the session at times, but ultimately slipped back to seventh place – narrowly missing out on pole position by 0.422 seconds.
When the lights go out for the Moto3 race on Sunday, Guido Pini will start from ninth on the third row and will have to complete two long-lap penalties after the Italian was also penalised in Q2 for riding too slowly on the racing line. Before that, however, the 17-year-old rookie quickly found his rhythm on the 4.8-kilometre Motegi circuit, which was completely new to him. The youngster set an early mark with seventh place in FP1 and was able to improve even further during practice. This secured him a place in Q2, where Pini improved again to 1:55.516, just 0.690 seconds behind the pole time.
In front of thousands of Japanese fans in, the German Intact GP team has set itself ambitious goals: Muñoz wants to further improve his World Championship chances and close the gap to the top three, while rookie Pini wants to start the overseas trip with a points finish despite a double long lap. The Moto3 race starts on Sunday at 04:00 (CEST).
Results
FP1
1. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'55.947
2. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.972 (+0.025)
3. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.990 (+0.043)
7. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'56.513 (+0.566)
9. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'56.747 (+0.800)
PR
1. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.234
2. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.402 (+0.168)
3. Ryusei YAMANAKA/ JPN/ KTM – 1'55.590 (+0.356)
10. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'55.986 (+0.752)
FP2
1. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 1'55.177
2. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.188 (+0.011)
3. David ALMANSA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'55.206 (+0.029)
4. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.307 (+0.130)
13. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'55.900 (+0.723)
Q2
1. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'54.826
2. Valentin PERRONE/ ARG/ KTM – 1'55.064 (+0.238)
3. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ KTM – 1'55.080 (+0.254)
7. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'55.248 (+0.422)
11. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'55.516 (+0.690)
