Roberts Sixth, Beaubier 13th In Qualifying For Grand Prix Of Valencia

After two crashes on Saturday morning, Joe Roberts bounced back to qualify sixth for the Grand Prix of Valencia. File photo by Italtrans Racing.

Italtrans Racing’s Joe Roberts turned a bad Saturday into a good Saturday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Spain, the Californian recovering from two crashes in FP3 to qualify sixth in Q2 for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Valencia.

Roberts’ two crashes came in Saturday morning’s FP3 session while he was attempting to get himself a direct transfer to Q2. The crashes put him on his back foot for Q1, but he came through with the fourth-fastest lap, a 1:34.956, in the first qualifying session to get to Q2. Roberts then went out in Q2 and put in a 1:34.674 lap on his seventh of eight laps.

Roberts will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix from the second row.

American Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, meanwhile, had a direct transfer to Q2 from the three practice sessions and clocked a 1:34.920 for the 13th best time. Beaubier will start the Grand Prix from the fifth row. Despite ending up 13th, Beaubier is just .606 of a second of a second from pole.

Beaubier’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly will start the race from 27th.

Beta Tools Speed Up’s Alonso Lopez will start the Grand Prix from pole position for the first time, the Spaniard ending up just .001 of a second ahead of Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Pedro Acosta with Acosta’s teammate and World Championship points leader Augusto Fernandez qualifying third and just .167 of a second from pole.

IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura, Fernandez’s rival for the championship, will start from the second row of the gird after qualifying fifth.

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