Jake Dixon took his second pole of the season at the inaugural Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit on his final tour of the track. He is joined by championship leader Pedro Acosta and rookie Sergio Garcia on the front row.
Following a lengthy rain delay, the Moto2 qualifying got underway with a drying track. All eyes were on Aron Canet in the first round of qualifying as he was the highest-placed rider in the championship having to go through Q1. He struggled with the change in conditions.
All the riders went out to get an idea of the track conditions and slowly fast sectors began to be set. Zonta van der Goorbergh was at the top of the timesheets with six minutes to go.
The Dutch rider crashed at turn one with four minutes left to go causing a yellow flag, meaning the riders behind him had their lap times deleted. He was able to end the session at the top, progressing through to Q2.
Darryn Binder, on his return from injury, was also riding well and was set to improve significantly but his lap time was deleted due to exceeding track limits. He did make it through to the second qualifying session, finishing Q1 in fourth place.
Barry Baltus and Garcia were the other riders who progressed from Q1 to Q2.
As soon as the pit lane opened for Q2, all the riders headed out and it was obvious who had already been out on the track with the riders that came through from Q1 setting the pace early on. The track was still not dry enough for slick tyres, so the riders all went out on wet tyres as there are no intermediate tyres in Moto2.
After the first runs, Garcia was fastest from Tony Arbolino and van der Goorbergh. Arbolino had used van der Goorbergh as a marker which allowed him to follow the Dutchman’s line. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long as Binder made his way to first on the timesheet.
Going through Q1 turned out to be a massive advantage in damp conditions! 😮
Zonta VD Goorbergh, @garciadols11, @DarrynBinder_15 and @BarryBaltus are currently the Top 4 riders 👏#IndianGP 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/zLsb5BVi7w
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2023
The South African rider was only top momentarily as he was replaced by Acosta, who was replaced by Dixon as a flurry of riders improved their fastest lap times. Before the final runs, it was Garcia who was fastest in Q2.
With the chequered flag out, the times continued to fall. Acosta took the pole position briefly, and all eyes were on Dixon as he completed the final few corners. Dixon was able to go slightly quicker than Acosta taking his second pole position of the season.
0.032s quicker! 🔥🔥🔥
After a final improvement, @jakedixonracing takes pole position from @37_pedroacosta ✌️#IndianGP 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/5LaS0asPZR
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2023
The second row is populated by van der Goorbergh, Binder and Alonso Lopez. Championship contender Arbolino heads up the third row, joined by Joe Roberts and Somkiat Chantra. Celestino Vietti rounds out the top ten.
Feature Image Credit: Aspar Team (@AsparTeam) on X (formerly Twitter)
| 2023 INDIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – QUALIFYING RESULTS | |||||
| POS | RIDER | NAT | TEAM | BIKE | TIME |
| 1 | Jake Dixon | GBR | Inde GASGAS Aspar Team | (Kalex) | 2m 1.924s |
| 2 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | (Kalex) | 2m 1.956s |
| 3 | Sergio Garcia | SPA | Pons Wegow Los40 | (Kalex) | 2m 2.192s |
| 4 | Zonta Vd Goorbergh | NED | Fieten Olie Racing GP | (Kalex) | 2m 2.271s |
| 5 | Darryn Binder | RSA | Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP | (Kalex) | 2m 2.602s |
| 6 | Alonso Lopez | SPA | GT Trevisan SpeedUp | (Boscoscuro) | 2m 2.864s |
| 7 | Tony Arbolino | ITA | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | (Kalex) | 2m 2.958s |
| 8 | Joe Roberts | USA | Italtrans Racing Team | (Kalex) | 2m 3.262s |
| 9 | Somkiat Chantra | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | (Kalex) | 2m 3.370s |
| 10 | Celestino Vietti | ITA | Fantic Racing | (Kalex) | 2m 3.374s |
| 11 | Marcos Ramirez | SPA | OnlyFans American Racing | (Kalex) | 2m 3.446s |
| 12 | Sam Lowes | GBR | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | (Kalex) | 2m 3.536s |
| 13 | Barry Baltus | BEL | Fieten Olie Racing GP | (Kalex) | 2m 3.706s |
| 14 | Jeremy Alcoba | SPA | QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 | (Kalex) | 2m 4.208s |
| 15 | Ai Ogura | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | (Kalex) | 2m 4.751s |
| 16 | Manuel Gonzalez | SPA | Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 | (Kalex) | 2m 4.871s |
| 17 | Filip Salac | CZE | QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 | (Kalex) | 2m 5.123s |
| 18 | Dennis Foggia | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | (Kalex) | 2m 5.352s |
| 19 | Taiga Hada | JPN | Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team | (Kalex) | 2m 3.263s |
| 20 | Aron Canet | SPA | Pons Wegow Los40 | (Kalex) | 2m 3.322s |
| 21 | Fermín Aldeguer | SPA | GT Trevisan SpeedUp | (Boscoscuro) | 2m 3.501s |
| 22 | Rory Skinner | GBR | OnlyFans American Racing | (Kalex) | 2m 3.814s |
| 23 | Bo Bendsneyder | NED | Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team | (Kalex) | 2m 4.312s |
| 24 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 | (Kalex) | 2m 4.494s |
| 25 | Sean Dylan Kelly | USA | Forward Team | (Forward) | 2m 4.727s |
| 26 | Izan Guevara | SPA | Inde GASGAS Aspar Team | (Kalex) | 2m 5.015s |
| 27 | Borja Gomez | SPA | Fantic Racing | (Kalex) | 2m 5.015s |
| 28 | Alberto Surra | ITA | Forward Team | (Forward) | 2m 5.419s |
| 29 | Albert Arenas | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | (Kalex) | 2m 5.562s |