Moto3 Qatar: Luis Salom takes last-gasp pole from Maverick Vinales
Luis Salom took his maiden Moto3 pole position in a dramatic finale to qualifying for the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix
The 21-year-old Spaniard hit the front on his Ajo KTM with five minutes remaining, knocking Alex Rins' Monlau-run KTM down to second.
Salom, last year's championship runner-up, then lost the top spot himself to Maverick Vinales, who became the first man to dip below the 2m08s barrier in the session.
Salom hit back with a 2m07.423s lap, helped by a tow down the start/finish straight, and then improved on his final lap to a 2m07.229s, despite a major wobble between Turns 5 and 6.
Without a tow, Vinales was unable to usurp his countryman at the end and will start second. Rins then knocked Folger down to fourth right at the end to complete an all-Spanish front row.
Behind Folger, riding an Aspar Kalex-KTM, and Mahindra rider Miguel Oliveira, Frenchman Alan Techer will start a career-best sixth on the grid.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Luis Salom Ajo KTM 2m07.229s 2. Maverick Vinales Laglisse KTM 2m07.337s + 0.108s 3. Alex Rins Monlau KTM 2m07.596s + 0.367s 4. Jonas Folger Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m07.894s + 0.665s 5. Miguel Oliveira Mahindra 2m08.409s + 1.180s 6. Alan Techer CIP TSR-Honda 2m08.471s + 1.242s 7. Jakub Kornfeil RW Kalex-KTM 2m08.482s + 1.253s 8. Efren Vazquez Mahindra 2m08.521s + 1.292s 9. Alex Marquez Monlau KTM 2m08.556s + 1.327s 10. Arthur Sissis Ajo KTM 2m08.567s + 1.338s 11. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo KTM 2m08.575s + 1.346s 12. Romano Fenati Italia FTR-Honda 2m08.784s + 1.555s 13. Isaac Vinales Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m08.988s + 1.759s 14. Niccolo Antonelli Gresini FTR-Honda 2m09.107s + 1.878s 15. Danny Webb Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m09.405s + 2.176s 16. Niklas Ajo Tecno KTM 2m09.750s + 2.521s 17. Brad Binder Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m09.885s + 2.656s 18. Jasper Iwema RW Kalex-KTM 2m09.911s + 2.682s 19. Alexis Masbou Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m10.158s + 2.929s 20. John McPhee Caretta RTG FTR-Honda 2m10.195s + 2.966s 21. Jack Miller Caretta RTG FTR-Honda 2m10.221s + 2.992s 22. Juan Guevara CIP TSR-Honda 2m10.443s + 3.214s 23. Ana Carrasco Laglisse KTM 2m10.520s + 3.291s 24. Toni Finsterbusch Kiefer Kalex-KTM 2m10.688s + 3.459s 25. Eric Granado Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m11.798s + 3.569s 26. Alessandro Tonucci Tasca-Honda 2m10.939s + 3.710s 27. Philipp Oettl Paddock Kalex-KTM 2m11.000s + 3.771s 28. Florian Alt Kiefer Kalex KTM 2m11.047s + 3.818s 29. Francesco Bagnaia Italia FTR-Honda 2m11.284s + 4.055s 30. Lorenzo Baldassarri Gresini FTR-Honda 2m11.286s + 4.057s 31. Matteo Ferrari Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m11.775s + 4.546s 32. Hyuga Watanabe Tasca Honda 2m12.542s + 5.313s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments