THAI GP

Holgado gives it his all in a thrilling qualifying

The CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team rider will start the race in Thailand from the front row, after finishing 49 thousandths off pole position

 

Dani Holgado fought for the first pole position of the season until the very last moments, but missed out by just 49 thousandths and will start tomorrow's race in Buriram from third place. The CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team rider has been one of the protagonists in a category that is becoming increasingly competitive, as reflected in the results of Saturday's qualifying session. Pole position finally went to Australian Senna Agius, who narrowly beat Izan Guevara, who will start second. David Alonso, meanwhile, made it through Q1 and will start from tenth position tomorrow.

The CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team riders got off to a very positive start on the second day of the Thai Grand Prix, with Dani Hoglado dominating free practice and David Alonso in fourth position. Both riders fine-tuned his bikes ahead of this afternoon's qualifying. David Alonso also had to go through Q1 beforehand, although he made it through to compete for the front spots on the starting grid. In Q2, Holgado was the first rider to set the benchmark time and remained in first position until the final laps. The Spaniard lost the top spot in the last minutes of the session and, unfortunately, a yellow flag in the last few seconds prevented him from improving his lap time to try to regain it. With a time of 1:34.625, tomorrow he will complete a front row that has been decided by thousandths. Meanwhile, his teammate David Alonso was able to solve the minor problems he suffered yesterday and achieved his best time of the weekend (1:34.860) in qualifying. The Colombian was only two tenths off the fastest time, but the high competitiveness of the category only allowed him to achieve tenth position, on the fourth row of the grid.

 

3rd Dani Holgado 1:34.625 (+0.049): “It was a very intense qualifying session. I had to do a lot of laps on my own, which is difficult here because there are two very long straights. I'm very satisfied, although I don't think my lap was good and I could have improved it. On the next lap, I was going faster, but then I made a mistake. I needed to stay a bit calmer and save a few tenths. By trying to find them, I made those mistakes, but this result is very good. I can be more than happy with the front row. When you try to give your all, you make these kinds of mistakes and lose two tenths. It's very difficult to do a perfect lap. I didn't set the best time, but it's positive to see that I have room for improvement. Tomorrow, I hope to do everything perfectly, I have a clear strategy. I feel strong in terms of pace, especially at the start. We'll try to set our own pace from the beginning because the front tyre suffers a lot.”

10th David Alonso 1:34.860 (+0.284): “I was able to get through Q1, although there was a moment when I wasn't sure because I looked at the screen and saw a lot of riders going very fast. At that point, there was nothing I could do because I had already finished the session, but in the end, I made it. In Q2, I tried to get my best lap, but I noticed that when it's very hot, I struggle a bit more, and I have to work on that. I fought hard and did my best. It's going to be a tough race, with difficult conditions. I'll try to learn as much as possible.”