Now, talk about seizing the initiative when the championship is on the line. Xarly Mendez has put himself in the absolute best position possible to grab the FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup crown, claiming pole position at the Circuito Estoril in Portugal.
The rider from the Dominican Republic has led the standings since round one, but he rolled into this final weekend sitting a single point behind his championship rival, Riichi Takahira from Japan. Mendez immediately stamped his authority on the venue by topping both free practice and the Superpole session, ultimately locking down pole with a quickest time of 1’54.308.
As always, it will be a tough race but we will push as hard as we can for the best result possible and push for the championship over the next two races.
That is how you answer pressure. Meanwhile, the qualifying session took a dramatic turn for Takahira from Japan. An incident with another rider during the all-important shootout left him buried down in eighth on the grid, instantly handing a massive psychological and tactical advantage to Mendez before Saturday's first race.
Behind the pole-sitter, Angelo Mottola from Italy grabbed second place, while Mario Salles from Brazil rounded out the front row in third. Row two will see Aymon Bocanegra from Brazil leading the charge in fourth, followed by Emanuele Pastore from Italy in fifth and Hinata Okada from Japan in sixth.
Further down the order, Daniel Krabacher from Austria secured seventh ahead of the troubled Takahira, while Indi Schunselaar from the Netherlands put together one of his strongest qualifying performances of the entire year to take ninth. Valentino Knezovic from Australia completes the top ten starters in tenth.
“I am happy to be on pole position,” Xarly Mendez said. “As always, it will be a tough race but we will push as hard as we can for the best result possible and push for the championship over the next two races.”
The penultimate race of the season goes green at 13:00 local time.
