2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island – Saturday
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Moto2 and Moto3 Qualifying
Moto2 Qualifying
Bad news broke as riders prepared for Moto2 Q2 with championship challenger Joe Roberts ruled out of the event after breaking his scaphoid in the morning practice session. It is unclear as yet if he will need to undergo surgery and whether he will return to action next weekend in Malaysia.
Ai Ogura had also gone down in the wet Saturday morning practice session, as had Aussie wildcard Harrison Voight, among quite a few others.
Agius had topped that Saturday morning Practice Two session.
Both Aussie entrants had to contest the Q1 session after ranking 15th and 16th on Friday.
Senna Agius went top in Q1 with six-minutes remaining, just as countryman Harrison Voight briefly ran off the circuit while trying to improve his standing from tenth. All riders struggling with the wind today at Phillip Island.
Agius improved further to 1m32.197, only for Dennis Foggia to knock him out of the top spot with a 1m31.792…
Agius returned fire, though, with a 1m31.586, the fastest-ever Moto2 lap of Phillip Island!
Joining Senna Agius and Dennis Foggia in Q2 would be Ayumu Sasaki and Barry Baltus.
Harrison Voight unfortunately did not make the cut but encouragingly did finish ahead of his well credentialled team-mate Jaume Masia.
That new record lap time from Agius was usurped by Fermin Aldeguer in Q2 on his way to pole position, the new benchmark 1m30.876, the first ever 1m30s from a Moto2 machine at Phillip Island.
Aldeguer taking pole by two-tenths ahead of Aron Canet and Alonso Lopez while Marcos Ramirez made it a Spanish 1-2-3-4 at the top of the time-sheets.
The third consecutive pole position for Aldeguer here at Phillip Island.
A flurry of late fast times from all and sundry demoted Senna Agius to the fifth row.
Moto2 Qualifying Results
- Fermin Aldeguer 1m30.87
- Aron Canet 1m31.072
- Alonso Lopez 1m31.144
- Marcos Ramirez 1m31.168
- Barry Baltus 1m31.413
- Manuel Gonzalez 1m31.420
- Diogo Moreira 1m31.426
- Albert Arenas 1m31.452
- Ai Ogura 1m31.455
- Jake Dixon 1m31.576
- Tony Arbolino 1m31.652
- Dennis Foggia 1m31.66
- Senna Agius 1m31.661
- Ayumu Sasaki 1m31.769
- Darryn Binder 1m32.036
- Sergio Garcia 1m32.049
- Deniz Oncu 1m32.165
- Izan Guevera 1m32.512
- Zonta van der Goorbergh 1m32.588
- Mario Aji 1m32.644
- Jeremy Alcoba 1m32.694
- Filip Salac 1m32.737
- Alex Escrig 1m33.283
- Harrison Voight 1m33.673
- Jaume Masia 1m33.676
- Xavi Cardelus 1m34.089
- Xavier Artigas 1m34.429
Moto2 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | A Ogura | 228 |
2 | S Garcia | 168 |
3 | A Lopez | 163 |
4 | A Canet | 156 |
5 | J Roberts | 153 |
6 | M Gonzalez | 153 |
7 | F Aldeguer | 150 |
8 | C Vietti | 140 |
9 | J Dixon | 133 |
10 | T Arbolino | 127 |
11 | M Ramirez | 79 |
12 | S Chantra | 78 |
13 | J Alcoba | 74 |
14 | A Arenas | 65 |
15 | F Salac | 57 |
16 | D Binder | 50 |
17 | S Agius | 47 |
18 | D Moreira | 36 |
19 | D Öncü | 34 |
20 | I Guevara | 34 |
21 | B Baltus | 31 |
22 | Z Vd | 31 |
23 | D Foggia | 18 |
24 | X Artigas | 10 |
25 | B Bendsneyder | 7 |
26 | J Navarro | 6 |
27 | A Sasaki | 4 |
28 | J Masia | 4 |
29 | M Aji | 3 |
30 | M Ferrari | 1 |
31 | X Cardelus | 0 |
32 | M Schrotter | 0 |
33 | M Pasini | 0 |
34 | A Escrig | 0 |
35 | D Muñoz | 0 |
36 | U Orradre | 0 |
Moto3 Qualifying
Jacob Roulstone was one of the first riders out of pit-lane in what was a blustery Q1 and steadily built up his pace throughout to go top in the dying stages of the session to earn promotion through to Q2. Also through to Q2 was Adrian Fernandez, David Munoz and Taiyo Furusato.
That time on track in the windy and somewhat sketchy conditions paid good dividends for Roulstone in Q2 as he stayed inside the top ten throughout the majority of the Q2 session.
Countryman Joel Kelso was outside the top ten before heading straight to the top of the charts with just under three-minutes remaining, a 1m36.366 putting the Ginger Ninja into provisional pole.
In the dying seconds of the session though Ivan Ortola, Collin Veijer, Adrian Fernandez, David Munoz, Scott Ogden and Stefano Nepa all demoted Kelso back to seventh.
Similarly, Roulstone was also usurped by a number of riders on their final laps, finishing up in 13th place just ahead of GASGAS team-mate Daniel Holgado.
Jacob Roulstone – P13
“I was super happy about my Q1 after a difficult weekend so far, and some difficult rounds lately, so it gave me a good boost of confidence. I was surprisingly feeling really good on the bike in Q1 in the tricky conditions, so I just continued to improve, to end up with the fastest lap, which is satisfying. It was a bit more difficult in Q2, some chaos as usual, but overall I feel confident heading to tomorrow’s race, and I am super excited to race at home. We’ll have to see what the weather will be like, it can be really windy, so let’s wait and see!”
Roulstone failed to match his 1m36.688 from Q1, finishing Q2 on 1m36.974.
Ivan Ortola’s pole time 1m35.872. The KTM rider’s sixth pole of the season and just outside the all-time Moto3 lap record set by Ayumu Sasaki at 1m35.854 in 2022. Jack Miller holds the current Moto3 race lap record at 1m36.302 but that is certain to be smashed here tomorrow.
Moto3 Qualifying Results
- Ivan Ortola 1m35.872
- Collin Veijer 1m35.996
- Adrian Fernandez 1m36.023
- David Munoz 1m36.201
- Scott Ogden 1m36.275
- Stefano Nepa 1m36.360
- Joel Kelso 1m36.366
- Angel Piqueras 1m36.423
- Taiyo Furusato 1m36.487
- David Alonso 1m36.602
- Ryusei Yamanaka 1m36.630
- Luca Lunetta 1m36.831
- Jacob Roulstone 1m36.974
- Daniel Holgado 1m37.101
- Jose Antonio Rueda 1m37.293
- Filippo Farioli 1m37.326
- Tatsuki Suzuki 1m37.451
- Matteo Bertelle 1m38.203
- Nicola Carraro 1m37.716
- David Almansa 1m37.860
- Joel Esteban 1m37.791
- Xabi Zurutuza 1m38.531
- Riccardo Rossi 1m39.079
- Noah Dettwiler 1m39.426
- Eddie O’Shea 1m39.645
- Tatchakorn Buasri 1m39.987
Moto3 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | D Alonso | 321 |
2 | D Holgado | 212 |
3 | C Veijer | 209 |
4 | I Ortola | 191 |
5 | D Muñoz | 141 |
6 | A Fernandez | 137 |
7 | A Piqueras | 131 |
8 | A Rueda | 121 |
9 | J Kelso | 110 |
10 | R Yamanaka | 96 |
11 | T Furusato | 88 |
12 | T Suzuki | 81 |
13 | L Lunetta | 78 |
14 | S Nepa | 65 |
15 | J Roulstone | 50 |
16 | M Bertelle | 47 |
17 | J Esteban | 45 |
18 | F Farioli | 27 |
19 | R Rossi | 26 |
20 | N Carraro | 22 |
21 | S Ogden | 15 |
22 | X Zurutuza | 11 |
23 | D Almansa | 11 |
24 | V Perez | 3 |
25 | N Dettwiler | 2 |
26 | J Whatley | 0 |
27 | T Buasri | 0 |
28 | J Rosenthaler | 0 |
29 | R Wakamatsu | 0 |
30 | D Shahril | 0 |
31 | H Al Sahouti | 0 |
32 | A Aditama | 0 |