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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

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