The Idemitsu Honda Team Asia was unstoppable in the Moto2 Japanese GP qualifying. Somkiat Chantra confirmed their dominance in practice with pole position and a new lap record at Motegi, beating teammate Ai Ogura to secure the one-two for the team at its home.
Not all riders completed their first flying laps right away, but after five riders had done so, Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) led the way ahead of his teammate Alonso López.
After dominating practice, Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) took the lead in qualifying on his first attempt, while Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) moved into second place. The Spaniard was later overtaken by Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex).
The leader was already below category’s lap record at Motegi. Jake Dixon climbed to second ahead of Acosta, but Chantra remained out of reach. Filip Salac (QJMotor Gresini/Kalex) became the fourth fastest.
Within the final minute, Ogura returned to second place. He finished 0.120s behind Chantra, and nothing changed further, meaning the Thai rider secured his third career pole position. Dixon moved ahead of Acosta to take third, and Salac completed the top five. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex), second in the championship, finished 13th in a challenging qualifying session where he couldn’t contend for top positions.
Q2 results:
Overall qualifying results: