Top ten start for Juanfran Guevara at Sachsenring

There was a rush amongst the Moto3 riders to start the qualifying session in Germany. A dark sky signalled imminent rain and riders wanted to set fast times as soon as possible before the rain came down.

Jack Miller took pole, setting the fastest Moto3 time to date at the Sachsenring 1.26.997 and becoming the only rider to breach the 1.26 barrier.

Light rain fell with eighteen minutes remaining and the riders headed back to the pits, with some reemerging with four minutes to go but none changing the qualifying results.

Halfway through the Moto3 qualifying session, Juanfran Guevara put in two excellent consecutive laps to lower seven tenths and then a further three tenths from his best time.

The MAPFRE Aspar rider was astute, doing his homework early to qualify in ninth place and not have to worry about the arrival of rain. Today he was at his closest to the pole time in a qualifying session this year –placing only 6 tenths down, an impressive feat considering that Miller set a new circuit record.

Tomorrow will be the second time this season that Guevara starts from inside the top ten on the grid. The previous occasion, at Mugello, he finished eighth. His goal tomorrow is another top ten.

9th Juanfran Guevara 1.27.673 (14 laps):
“Today we took a step back to return to the setup we used yesterday morning. We also made a change to the rear shock, hoping to get a more stable bike to help us with corner entry. Our intention today was to complete plenty of laps and get a feeling for the race. Both the team and I put new tyres on fairly soon, so that when the rain came the most important work was done. We managed to get the times we wanted. Seeing that some riders finished further down the grid because of the rain, we are happy with our strategy. I think it’s very positive to qualify in the top ten, especially at this circuit where the first lap will be chaotic. We have a good pace as our best laps have come when riding alone, and we have confidence with the bike. So tomorrow I hope to achieve a good result. We will have to risk a lot in the early stages, and our goal is to complete the race in the top ten.”

Source: Aspar Media