MotoGP Portimao: Oncu on Moto3 pole, Ogden denied by yellow flags

Tech3 KTM’s Deniz Öncü secured a dramatic pole position for the Moto3 Portuguese GP on Saturday having fought through from Q1.

A drying and challenging Portimao Circuit saw the Turk claim the spoils with a 2’03.955 time set on his final lap, Friday hero Mario Aji and Sic58’s Lorenzo Fellon completing the Parc Fermê celebrations. VisionTrack Honda’s Scott Ogden was denied his place on the front row by the multitude of yellow flags which hampered the closing stages of the final 15-minute session.

The opening qualifying action of the day saw series leader Dennis Foggia facing the Q1 fight as the rain continued to fall. Taiyo Furusato suffered his second crash of the day as the conditions intensified, strong winds lashing the rain against the lightweight machines as the pace struggled to break into the 2’08’s.

Xavi Artigas headed the times with a 2’08.477 on his third effort. Foggia, Stefano Nepa and Öncü holding the all-important top four positions with David Salvador just adrift.

VisionTrack’s Josh Whatley hit the top three on his fifth lap, yellow flags flying with less than four minutes to run as Salvador and Ivan Ortola crashed out in the third sector, Kaito Toba doing likewise at turn three moments later.

Öncü took charge with a 2’07.198 from Foggia, Whatley briefly dropped to fourth before he consolidated his stake on a promotion place with a 2’08.366 and returned to third. The young Brit setting red sectors in his final effort as the chequered flag came out before he rolled out in the final sector.

Stefano Nepa claimed third in the closing seconds, dropping Artigas out of the promotion zone with Whatley facing a nervous wait. The 16-year-old safe and heading into his debut pole shootout of his world championship