Sasaki qualifies in impressive seventh place at Phillip Island, Van den Goorbergh 21st

Ayumu Sasaki qualified seventh on Saturday for the Moto2 race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In the second qualifying session, the Japanese rider set the seventh-fastest time on his own, just three-tenths of a second off pole position. His teammate Zonta van den Goorbergh remained in Q1 and qualified 21st for the Australian Grand Prix.

As is often the case at this time of year, conditions at Phillip Island were changeable over the past two days. After morning rain, the track dried up on Friday afternoon, allowing Ayumu Sasaki to finish the first day in fourteenth position and secure direct entry into Q2. Zonta van den Goorbergh ended the day 22nd, meaning he had to take part in Q1.

Following more rain in the morning, the sun came out in the afternoon, creating favourable track conditions. In Q1, Van den Goorbergh faced a challenging session and ultimately set the seventh-fastest time, giving him 21st place on the grid and a start from the seventh row for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

In Q2, the pace was extremely high, with the lap record being broken several times. While a slipstream can provide a significant advantage at the fast Phillip Island circuit, Sasaki set his best lap time of 1’30.128 completely on his own, securing an excellent seventh place on the grid. It marks the Japanese rider’s best qualifying result so far in the Moto2 class.

Ayumu Sasaki (P7 – 1’30.128 / +0,311):
“It was a good day for us as we qualified in seventh position. I felt good with the bike and it worked out well, so a big thanks to the team. The feeling is good and hopefully we can have a great race tomorrow.”

Zonta van den Goorbergh (P21 – 1’31.116 / +0,919):
“Even though we didn’t make it into Q2 today, there are positive things to take away. The changes we made after yesterday worked well: I had more stability on the bike today. Hopefully we can take another step forward tomorrow so we can fight for a good result in the race.”

The Moto2 race over 23 laps at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit will start on Sunday at 13:15 local time (04:15 CET). Note: this is one hour later than originally scheduled due to poor weather conditions expected in the first half of Sunday.