Tetsuta Nagashima and Mattia Pasini compete in Q2 and qualify in 13th and 14th position, respectively, for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli hosted qualifying for the eighth round of the Moto2 World Championship, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, on Saturday afternoon. Tetsuta Nagashima took a step forward compared to yesterday, lowering his lap times and moving directly into Q2. The Japanese rider will start from the fifth row of the grid, in 13th place, alongside stand-in teammate Mattia Pasini – who was 14th. The Italian made notable progress on his second day aboard the Red Bull KTM Ajo bike.

Tetsuta Nagashima started the day ready to take advantage of the last Free Practice and he was 0,3 seconds faster than on Friday. On his ninth lap of a total of 20, he set his best time of this session: 1:36.211. The Japanese rider’s 11th position in the FP3 ensured that he went straight into Qualifying 2. Mattia Pasini adapted well to the team’s bike, stopping the clock at 1:36.476 to go 9 tenths faster than yesterday. The Italian finished the morning in 20th place and completed 18 laps.

In the afternoon, Nagashima took part in Q2, a session in which he put in his strongest lap times of the weekend. A 1:36.087 means that the Japanese rider will take off from the fifth row of the grid – 13th -, joined by Mattia Pasini – 14th – thanks to the Italian’s 1:36.154. Pasini had previously made it out of Q1 with the third fastest time.

The 25-lap Moto2 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix takes place tomorrow at 12:20 pm local time.

Results – Qualifying day
1. Luca Marini (Kalex) 1:35.271
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 1:35.307 +0.036
3. Xavi Vierge (Kalex) 1:35.619 +0.348
4. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:35.740 +0.469
5. Enea Bastianini (Kalex) 1:35.789 +0.518
13. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1.36.087 +0.816
14. Mattia Pasini (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:36.154 +0.883

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“Qualifying was fairly good. Our position is not the best, but at other contests we have started from similar places and have finished up at the front. Our strategy at the beginning of Q2 was not the right one, but luckily we made a change and in the final part of the session we worked much better. The important thing is that we have a good race pace, so tomorrow I will give my all. It will be very important to get a strong start.”

54 MATTIA PASINI

“I am very happy with how today went. We qualified in 14th position but, in terms of our times, we are just 3 tenths behind the riders on the second row of the grid. This means that we have done a great job over the weekend so far, and that we have been taking continuous steps forward. Little by little my feeling on the bike is getting better, thanks to the great effort that the team are making.
However, we have to stay focused as tomorrow the race will be difficult. Nevertheless, we are going to do our best to continue our progress on track. Once again, I want to thank Red Bull KTM Ajo and everyone who has allowed me to enjoy this opportunity.”