The lightweight class was back in action on Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit, with Daniel Holgado and Jacob Roulstone facing the first qualifying shootout of the season. They were back in action with Practice 2 at 12:10 local time (GMT+3), a key session before the qualifying stage later on towards the end of the afternoon which was defining the first Moto3™ grid of 2024.

Fastest on Friday, Daniel Holgado saw his fresh all-time lap record being already beaten in Practice 2. Although not many riders improved their lap times, Ivan Ortola was the first to beat the 2’03.606 from Dani, before David Alonso and then Jose Antonio Rueda took over, with a 2’03.465. Holgado remained cautious in P2 following the rain from the previous night, and did not improve his lap time. That meant his lap from Friday placed him fourth in the combined standing. In the final qualifying shootout, as the sun came down on Lusail circuit, Daniel Holgado took it to a whole other level as he broke again the all-time lap record with an exceptional 2’02.276 within the final seconds, to take the first pole of the 2024 season. It is a back-to-back pole position for Holgado in Doha after he was already the poleman of the 2023 edition of the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar. The young Spaniard will be eager to fight for the first trophy of the season tomorrow, but the fight will be a tough one!

Provisionally in Q2 after his first Friday, rookie Jacob Roulstone continued to work well with his staff and managed to secure himself a direct Q2 ticket on his debuts in the Moto3™ class, a great performance for the young Australian. In his first qualifying session, Jacob Roulstone did again a solid job. A 2’03.760 has placed him in P17 for his first race in Grand Prix. Don’t miss the first Moto3™ race of the season on Sunday, at 17:00 (GMT+3)!