Ajo Motorsport rider takes third pole position of the year after setting new circuit record at Assen.

Zarco, Dutch Moto2 2015

Johann Zarco took pole position for the eighth Moto2 round of the season, with a new lap record of 1:36.346 at the Assen TT Circuit. The Ajo Motorsport rider set a new circuit record in qualifying to take his second consecutive pole –his third of the season after those in Argentina and Catalonia, respectively. Zarco won the Catalan GP a fortnight ago from the head of the grid.

Free Practice 3 was used by the Frenchman to continue testing tyre compounds for tomorrow’s race. Working with the excellent base setup from Thursday, Zarco looked to improve his pace during the session. Always among the three fastest riders, he finished the third practice session with a best time of 1:37.751 –just off his time from yesterday.

Despite leading qualifying in the first 10 minutes, Zarco was temporarily knocked off pole after quarter of an hour. After his first stop in the pits with new tyres, the Moto2 series leader completed two laps in the 1:36 range. The second of these was his best: A 1:36.346 that gave him pole position and went unmatched in the final 16 minutes. The Ajo Motorsport rider was 0.287s faster than his nearest rival.

The Moto2 Dutch TT takes place on Saturday at 12:20pm local time.

Results (Qualifying practice)
1.Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 1:36.346
2. Tito Rabat (Kalex) 1:36.633 +0.287
3. Sam Lowes (Speed Up) 1:36.878 +0.532
4. Simone Corsi (Kalex) 1:37.393 +1.047
5. Jonas Folger (Kalex) 1:37.434 +1.088

 Johann Zarco,
“Qualifying went well. From the first start I went pretty fast but Tito (Rabat) was faster than me. I kept calm because the setup was good and we had planned to put new tyres on. When we did that, I told the team that I could still ride better, so I went out quite early to set a fast lap without traffic. It went perfectly because I did what I had to do, then we had to wait until the end to keep the pole position. I am very happy. We have been working very well since yesterday and are setting some fast, consistent times –plus I feel comfortable with the bike. Assen is not an easy circuit, but I’m enjoying it now, which is the most important thing. We’ll see tomorrow because it can rain. We’ll have to wait and see what happens but I’m sure we will enjoy ourselves. In Catalonia I had fun with the bike and here I am doing the same, with the same strategy, and it is working well. I know my rivals are always close, it’s the World Championship and nobody sits back, but I’m ready.”