Raul Fernandez qualifies 15th in Mugello, with Albert Arenas lining up 22nd

Tony Arbolino will start his home Grand Prix from pole position at Mugello tomorrow, after claiming top spot by a convincing 0.673 seconds from Gabriel Rodrigo this afternoon, setting a new Moto3 lap record of 1’56.407 in the process.

Alongside the Italian and the Argentinean on the front row will be another local rider in the shape of Lorenzo dalla Porta, with two more Italians on the second row in Andrea Migno and Niccolò Antonelli, either side of yesterday’s pacesetter Tatsuki Suzuki of Japan.

Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team rider Raúl Fernández set a target of a place on the front three rows of the grid and he was only half a second off it today, eventually qualifying on the fifth row. The Spaniard is contesting the Italian Grand Prix for the first time but he managed to progress from Q1, even if the final position wasn’t what he hoped.

Albert Arenas is aiming for improved qualifying performances in future after finding himself on the eighth row for tomorrow’s race, although historically Mugello produces large group races so he should have the chance to improve on that position tomorrrow.

15th Raúl Fernández 1:58.028:
“Our first objective today was to make the cut in qualifying and we did that, but to set a fast time today with the wind out there without a slipstream was difficult. We will have to find a little more because other riders are quicker through the direction changes and we are struggling a little more. Tomorrow looks like it will be a group race so we will have to fight hard.”

22nd Albert Arenas 1:58.496:
“It has been a difficult couple of days because we haven’t found a good feeling with the bike. We have worked hard but it hasn’t paid off yet. At least on my final run we found some little details that look like they’re taking us in the right direction. We will give it our best with what we have tomorrow but we have to improve our qualifying performances because it makes the races more difficult. We are fast enough to fight at the front but like this it is tough.”