The Czech has bettered his best ever qualifying by five positions. Pedro Acosta, however, struggled in qualifying, and starts tomorrow’s race in 13th.

At the beginning of Q1, it was ideal conditions for the Moto3 riders. Gabriel Rodrigo lead the field out of the pits; after his big high-side this morning, he was declared fit. Jaume Masia was also in Q1 after struggling to get a flyer in FP3 today, along with Darryn Binder and Deniz Oncu.

Andi Farid Izdahar didn’t get off to a great start, and went straight on between Turns 7 and 8 at high speed. He kept it upright into the gravel and managed to return to the track.

Darryn Binder set the early pace, going top on the first set of quick laps. Gabriel Rodrigo had a moment coming out of the final corner which slowed him down, so he needed to try again.

There was a long period of quiet on track as the field sat in pit lane for a few minutes before the chaos ensued. With 3 minutes to go, the pit lane emptied. Deniz Oncu went out on his own, but joined the back of the rest of the field on their out-laps.
Darryn Binder stayed in the pits and came out with a minute to go, presumably for a practice start, but he had a really odd high-side in Turn 1 as he toured out of the pits. His bike laid against the barrier and he looked bemused by the incident. He remounted and dawdled back to the pits. It later came to light that he’d run into the side of CIP Green Power replacement rider, Joel Kelso. Kelso was on his flying lap and took a sweeping line into Turn 1 and Binder went for the gap. It caused Binder to spear towards the outside of the track. It was rather irresponsible riding from the South African, because he was not going to get around in time for a fast lap.

Gabriel Rodrigo went wide at Turn 8, and completely messed his team-mate Jeremy Alcoba up by re-joining on the inside of Turn 12. He may pick up a penalty for his lack of awareness. Rodrigo was then displaced in the Top 4 by Yuki Kunii. Darryn Binder managed to stay at the top after his crash, with Deniz Oncu in 2nd and Jaume Masia in 3rd.

Q2 started with Pedro Acosta leading the pack out. Darryn Binder was back out after his wobbly wheel was repaired, but was soon brought back into the pits, as he was black flagged for irresponsible riding in Q1.
Deniz Oncu had a fast crash at Turn 8, as if the front tucked and he slid off into the gravel with the crash ending with quite a violent roll. He got up relatively OK though.

Czech rider Filip Salac set the pace early on, and the grid all returned to the pits with 7 minutes to go. Deniz Oncu managed to get his bike back to the pits and repaired, and had to go out alone to get a lap on the board.

The rest of the field went out onto track with just under 3 minutes to go. Riders were touring again on the edge of the track so there may be penalties tomorrow. Pedro Acosta had a rear-end moment at Omega Curve, but it didn’t seem to affect his rhythm. He ended the lap in 13th – so that’s where he starts for tomorrow’s race.

Kaito Toba had a nasty looking crash at Turn 8 and trudged off through the gravel holding his arm. It looked to be a collarbone injury. Because of this, the yellow flags came out, and so Filip Salac’s lap stood for him to claim his first ever pole position.

Leopard Racing rider Dennis Foggia was 2nd, with Tatsuki Suzuki claiming the last front row spot in 3rd. John McPhee was 4th with a well-needed solid qualifying, with late crasher Kaito Toba in 5th. 16-year-old Lorenzo Fellon took an incredible 6th place, and has proved his talent today. Let’s hope he can get a good result tomorrow, after spending most his season propping up the field.

Pedro Acosta has a lot of work to do tomorrow, but we all know his race craft is phenomenal, so he will be one to watch with Sergio Garcia just behind him in the race tomorrow.

The Moto3 race will begin at 11:00 Local Time (GMT +2).

Feature Image: MotoGP.com