Fermin Aldeguer made history on Saturday at the Argentina Grand Prix, with the reigning European Moto2 Champion turning Free Practice domination into a maiden GP pole position.
Aldeguer beat Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by 0.150s in Moto2 qualifying to become the youngest-ever intermediate class polesitter at 16 years and 332 days old, beating Jorge Lorenzo’s previous record from the 250cc class by over a year.
Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) picked up his second front row start of the season in Termas de Rio Hondo at the venue where he took his maiden pole back in Moto3™.
Q1
Just 0.067 covered the entirety of the top four in Q1 who moved through, with American Racing’s Cameron Beaubier fastest ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP) and Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP).
Q2
Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Q1 graduate Gonzalez all took turns to head Q2 in the early stages, before World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took over at the top. The Italian’s stay was short-lived though as Fernandez climbed to P1 with seven minutes to go.
Free Practice pacesetter Aldeguer then struck back to lead the way once more on Saturday, with just 0.019s splitting the two Spaniards at the summit. With three to go, Aldeguer extended his advantage to 0.150s with another fastest lap of the session, and that was that as no one could respond, securing some history for the number 54.
The Grid
Behind Aldeguer, Fernandez and Arbolino, heading the second row of the grid is Albert Arenas (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) after his best Moto2 qualifying yet, and the former Moto3™ World Champion has teammate Jake Dixon alongside him in P5. Vietti will be aiming for a third consecutive podium from P6.
Indonesian GP winner Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) recovered from a big FP2 crash to claim P7, and the Thai star has teammate Ai Ogura starting next to him on the third row, which is completed by Bendsneyder. Rookie Gonzalez impressed with P10, especially as the Spaniard managed to better both Lowes and second in the Championship Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) in Q2.
Make sure you don’t miss the Moto2™ race in Termas de Rio Hondo at 13:20 local time (GMT+3) on Sunday afternoon!