Moto2: Tomizawa on Brno Pole

MotoGP News

Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP, Suter) was back to his brilliant best in Moto2 qualifying, scoring his second pole position of the year, three and a half months after he took his first pole at Jerez.

Winner of the very first Moto2 race at Losail, Qatar, in April, Tomizawa has had an up and down time of it recently, scoring no better than fifth at the last six races.

But his performance today suggests a turnaround from the talented Japanese rider who was more than two tenths quicker than Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up). The other men who made it onto the front row were World Championship leader Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) and Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans S.T.R, Suter).

All four riders know that the first moments of the race will be crucial – Moto2 starts are hectic to say the very least – and it’s a fine line between being aggressive enough and too aggressive to complete the first lap close to the front. At least Brno is much wider than most MotoGP tracks, which will give riders a bit more room to manoeuvre than usual.

Elias and Iannone – currently third on points – are so far the two most successful riders in the Honda-powered series, with three wins and two wins respectively from the first eight races. Elias made the front row today despite being disqualified from riding in yesterday’s first practice session. The ban was punishment for undertaking a test session at Misano during the midseason break. Elias’ team presumed they were allowed to test at their nominated test venue, but in fact no testing is allowed during the break.

So far Iannone has been the only rider able to make a clear breakaway from the Moto2 pack in the first laps, and no doubt the Italian will be aiming to repeat that trick here, which will allow him to run his own race, without having to ride defensively to protect his position from rivals. A last-minute set-up tweak made by his crew during qualifying may help Iannone achieve that goal.

Veteran Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans S.T.R, Suter) is on a roll, scoring his first Moto2 front-row start just a few weeks after his first Moto2 podium at the recent German GP, where he finished third behind Iannone and winner Elias.

Shoya Tomizawa says: “I’m very happy to get pole, especially because I have been very, very unlucky at the last few races – sometimes I struggle, sometimes I get hit by other riders. Things seem better after the holidays, so I hope I can get a good result this time.”

“We are getting closer to the Japanese GP in October, so we have to keep working on the machine to make it as good as possible for those last few races. Maybe I was a bit lucky today. There are so many riders in Moto2 that it is often impossible to find a clear track to ride a good lap, but today I found some room.”

Andrea Iannone says: “Today has been a tough day, because we have worked so hard on finding the best setting. I think we found something at the end of qualifying, but we weren’t able to make the most of it because we didn’t have time to fit a new rear tyre. I am looking forward to the race and I am aiming to enjoy it. My thanks to the team for all their hard work.”

Toni Elias says: “I think I could have made pole position, but I made a mistake shifting gear on my last lap and that cost me vital time. Anyway, I am happy because the bike set-up is more or less okay; we have done everything we can for tomorrow. I hope to make a good start, avoid any problems with other riders during the early laps, and then we will see what happens.”

Roberto Rolfo says: “This is my first front row in Moto2, so of course I am very happy. We made some important changes to our set-up before the race in Germany and now the machine feels very good; I feel really comfortable, which is so important to going fast. It’s very important to be at the front for the start in Moto2 and I expect a big fight in the race.”