In wet conditions at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans it was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who held his nerve to take pole position ahead of Efrén Vázquez.
After having had nothing but dry time at the French circuit, the Moto3 contingent struggled with the changed conditions, as many riders fell chasing grid positions.
It was however Viñales who put in a rain master-class as he took his first pole position of the season with a time of 1.55’865, ahead of Efrén Vázquez, who also achieved his first front row start of the year, even though he was almost a second behind his compatriot.
The front row is completed by Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira, who set his time half way through the session, before crashing, and being unable to challenge at the end.
It was a great outing for Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Jakub Kornfeil, who heads up the front row, just in front of Caretta Technology’s local favourite Alexis Masbou. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese rounds out the second row on the grid, after the current championship leader crashed early on, and only had the last 10 minutes to post a competitive time.
Seventh and eighth spot are occupied by Bankia Aspar Team pair Alberto Moncayo and Héctor Faubel, with RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom in ninth. AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin rounds out the top ten.
Riders that fell throughout the session included JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Adrian Martín, who fell on two occasions, Mahindra Racing’s Danny Webb, Andalucia JHK Laglisse’s Ivan Moreno, RW Racing GP’s Brad Binder, Oliveira’s teammate Alex Rins, Thomas Sabo GP Team’s Kevin Hanus, Caretta Technology’s Jack Miller, Cresto Guide MZ Racing’s Toni Finsterbusch, Mahindra’s Marcel Schrotter, and San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli.
Rins sustained a fractured finger in his right hand, while Finsterbusch has fractured his right collarbone. Rins’ ability to race tomorrow is being assessed, while the German has been declared unfit.
2012 Le Mans Moto3 Qualifying Results:
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Blusens Avintia | FTR Honda | 201.6 | 1’55.865 | |
2. | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 1’56.847 | 0.982 / 0.982 | |
3. | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 197.9 | 1’57.114 | 1.249 / 0.267 |
4. | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 196.7 | 1’57.392 | 1.527 / 0.278 |
5. | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Caretta Technology | Honda | 197.9 | 1’57.673 | 1.808 / 0.281 |
6. | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 198.5 | 1’57.801 | 1.936 / 0.128 |
7. | 23 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 196.5 | 1’57.846 | 1.981 / 0.045 |
8. | 55 | Hector FAUBEL | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 198.8 | 1’57.899 | 2.034 / 0.053 |
9. | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 197.6 | 1’58.000 | 2.135 / 0.101 |
10. | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | KTM | 203.0 | 1’58.133 | 2.268 / 0.133 |
11. | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 188.5 | 1’58.304 | 2.439 / 0.171 |
12. | 26 | Adrian MARTIN | SPA | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 192.2 | 1’58.315 | 2.450 / 0.011 |
13. | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | TT Motion Events Racing | KTM | 202.7 | 1’58.563 | 2.698 / 0.248 |
14. | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 200.1 | 1’58.570 | 2.705 / 0.007 |
15. | 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Racing Team Germany | FTR Honda | 196.6 | 1’58.576 | 2.711 / 0.006 |
16. | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 200.7 | 1’58.590 | 2.725 / 0.014 |
17. | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 198.5 | 1’58.673 | 2.808 / 0.083 |
18. | 89 | Alan TECHER | FRA | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 198.6 | 1’58.679 | 2.814 / 0.006 |
19. | 30 | Giulian PEDONE | SWI | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 194.3 | 1’58.932 | 3.067 / 0.253 |
20. | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 192.0 | 1’58.938 | 3.073 / 0.006 |
21. | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 200.6 | 1’58.978 | 3.113 / 0.040 |
22. | 8 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Caretta Technology | Honda | 192.1 | 1’59.233 | 3.368 / 0.255 |
23. | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 199.3 | 1’59.251 | 3.386 / 0.018 |
24. | 15 | Simone GROTZKYJ | ITA | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 195.7 | 1’59.335 | 3.470 / 0.084 |
25. | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Moto FGR | FGR Honda | 193.0 | 1’59.539 | 3.674 / 0.204 |
26. | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 199.9 | 1’59.888 | 4.023 / 0.349 |
27. | 27 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 195.7 | 2’00.129 | 4.264 / 0.241 |
28. | 51 | Kenta FUJII | JPN | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 196.8 | 2’00.903 | 5.038 / 0.774 |
29. | 21 | Ivan MORENO | SPA | Andalucia JHK Laglisse | FTR Honda | 197.7 | 2’02.379 | 6.514 / 1.476 |
30. | 9 | Toni FINSTERBUSCH | GER | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | Honda | 195.4 | 2’03.240 | 7.375 / 0.861 |
31. | 86 | Kevin HANUS | GER | Thomas Sabo GP Team | Honda | 192.9 | 2’03.626 | 7.761 / 0.386 |
99 | Danny WEBB | GBR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 185.6 | 2’04.144 | 8.279 / 0.518 | |
77 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 192.8 | 2’05.206 | 9.341 / 1.062 | |
3 | Luigi MORCIANO | ITA | Ioda Team Italia | Ioda | 177.9 | 2’05.565 | 9.700 / 0.359 |