Austin Moto3: Alex Rins blitzes qualifying
Alex Rins delivered a crushing performance at Austin to claim his second Moto3 pole position
Rins was not headed from the moment he set the session's first benchmark time, producing several lap times good enough for pole.
In the end, he lapped the Texan circuit in 2m16.396s on his Monlau KTM, and ended up almost half a second clear of Qatar winner Luis Salom's similar Ajo-run bike.
Laglisse's Maverick Vinales closed the gap to Rins to 0.7 seconds with his final run, but could not improve on third place.
It was a best-ever Moto3 qualifying session for Jack Miller, the Australian ending up fourth fastest, though he was 1.9s behind the pacesetting Rins.
The battle to join Miller on the second row exploded as the flag fell, as several riders posted late improvements.
Niklas Ajo, Danny Webb, Isaac Vinales and Arthur Sissis all occupied the final row two places in the dying seconds but were bumped further down the top 10 by Jonas Folger and Alex Marquez.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Alex Rins Monlau KTM 2m16.396s 2. Luis Salom Ajo KTM 2m16.879s + 0.483s 3. Maverick Vinales Laglisse KTM 2m17.100s + 0.704s 4. Jack Miller Caretta-RTG FTR-Honda 2m18.303s + 1.907s 5. Jonas Folger Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m18.570s + 2.174s 6. Alex Marquez Monlau KTM 2m18.595s + 2.199s 7. Niklas Ajo Tecno KTM 2m18.618s + 2.222s 8. Danny Webb Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m18.899s + 2.503s 9. Alexis Masbou Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m18.906s + 2.510s 10. Arthur Sissis Ajo KTM 2m18.951s + 2.555s 11. Isaac Vinales Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m19.041s + 2.645s 12. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo KTM 2m19.065s + 2.669s 13. Jakub Kornfeil RW Kalex-KTM 2m19.129s + 2.733s 14. Brad Binder Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m19.293s + 2.897s 15. Efren Vazquez Mahindra 2m19.361s + 2.965s 16. Alessandro Tonucci Tasca Honda 2m19.485s + 3.089s 17. Romano Fenati Italia FTR-Honda 2m19.514s + 3.118s 18. Miguel Oliveira Mahindra 2m19.516s + 3.120s 19. Jasper Iwema RW Kalex-KTM 2m19.529s + 3.133s 20. Eric Granado Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m19.664s + 3.268s 21. Florian Alt Kiefer Kalex-KTM 2m19.747s + 3.351s 22. Toni Finsterbusch Kiefer Kalex-KTM 2m19.891s + 3.495s 23. Niccolo Antonelli Gresini FTR-Honda 2m20.077s + 3.681s 24. Alan Techer CIP TSR-Honda 2m20.138s + 3.742s 25. Philipp Oettl Paddock Kalex-KTM 2m20.436s + 4.040s 26. Ana Carrasco Laglisse KTM 2m20.471s + 4.075s 27. Juanfran Guevara CIP TSR-Honda 2m20.544s + 4.148s 28. John McPhee Caretta-RTG FTR-Honda 2m20.868s + 4.472s 29. Lorenzo Baldassarri Gresini FTR-Honda 2m21.166s + 4.770s 30. Matteo Ferrari Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m21.190s + 4.794s 31. Francesco Bagnaia Italia FTR-Honda 2m21.484s + 5.088s 32. Hyuga Watanabe Tasca Honda 2m21.498s + 5.102s
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