MotoGP Phillip Island: Sasaki secures Moto3 pole with 1’35 lap

Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max’s Ayumu Sasaki continued a stellar weekend in Australia by securing pole with the fastest ever Moto3 lap of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

A 1’35.854, set on his third lap of the 15-minute session, placed the Japanese rider firmly in control as he headed back to the box, with his work seemingly complete. Gaviota GasGas Aspar’s Sergio Garcia claimed second 0.187s back from the impressive effort while a late mid-pack run from Ivan Ortola secured the final front row position for the Angeluss MTA squad.

A dramatic morning on the island found Sasaki on top of the final practice times, as he had been on Friday, thanks to a 1’36.112 last lap, while Husqvarna teammate John McPhee failed to secure direct qualification into Q2, languishing down in 27th overall. Crashes for VisionTrack’s Scott Ogden, at turn four, and a highspeed off at Doohan for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jaume Masia brought out the yellow flags, with home hero Joel Kelso’s early benchmark effort scrubbed off for the former. Red flags returning for local wildlife as the session came to a close.

A strong sea wind continued to prevail as qualifying kicked off for the lightweight class. McPhee rolling out alongside Ogden and teammate Josh Whatley for the Q1 fight with BOE’s David Muñoz and Rivacold Snipers’ Andrea Migno also in the mix. Honda Team Asia’s Taiyo Furusato wasted no time in striking for glory as he sat the fastest time of the weekend in quick succession with his first and second hotlaps of the session - a 1’37.356 leading the way as the remainder of the pack registered their initial efforts.

CFMoto’s Carlos Tatay, BOE’s Ana Carrasco and Avintia’s Nicola Carraro held the top four spots before the standings shuffled. Ogden