Le Mans Moto3: Maverick Vinales takes commanding pole
Moto3 championship leader Maverick Vinales claimed his first pole since moving to Laglisse with a commanding performance at Le Mans
Vinales was on top for most of the session, reeling off times consistently quicker than his rivals before reaching a 1m43.696s.
Miguel Oliveira grabbed second for Mahindra late on and closed to within 0.110 seconds of Vinales, equalling his career best qualifying.
Jonas Folger completes the front row for Aspar.
The Monlau riders had to settle for fourth and seventh, with Alex Rins and Alex Marquez split by Luis Salom and Jack Miller.
That Salom was even taking part in qualifying was remarkable following a violent crash in final practice.
The Spaniard, currently second to Vinales in the standings, had to have an ultrasound scan on his kidneys before he was cleared to return to the track.
Another practice crasher, Efren Vazquez, was less fortunate. He sustained a broken collarbone on Friday and will not race.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Maverick Vinales Laglisse KTM 1m43.696s 18 2. Miguel Oliveira Mahindra 1m43.806s + 0.110s 18 3. Alex Rins Monlau KTM 1m43.969s + 0.273s 16 4. Luis Salom Ajo KTM 1m44.123s + 0.427s 15 5. Jack Miller Caretta-RTG FTR-Honda 1m44.178s + 0.482s 18 6. Alex Marquez Monlau KTM 1m44.278s + 0.582s 18 7. Isaac Vinales Ongetta FTR-Honda 1m44.320s + 0.624s 18 8. Niklas Ajo Tecno KTM 1m44.548s + 0.852s 19 9. Alexis Masbou Ongetta FTR-Honda 1m44.560s + 0.864s 19 10. Romano Fenati Italia FTR-Honda 1m44.600s + 0.904s 19 11. Brad Binder Ambrogio Suter-Honda 1m44.611s + 0.915s 14 12. Lorenzo Baldassarri Gresini FTR-Honda 1m44.737s + 1.041s 18 13. Jakub Kornfeil RW Kalex-KTM 1m44.764s + 1.068s 19 14. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo KTM 1m44.812s + 1.116s 19 15. Alessandro Tonucci Tasca Honda 1m44.836s + 1.140s 18 16. Niccolo Antonelli Gresini FTR-Honda 1m44.845s + 1.149s 18 17. Danny Webb Ambrogio Suter-Honda 1m44.872s + 1.176s 17 18. John Mcphee Caretta-RTG FTR-Honda 1m44.889s + 1.193s 16 19. Arthur Sissis Ajo KTM 1m45.370s + 1.674s 17 20. Livio Loi Marc VDS Kalex-KTM 1m45.381s + 1.685s 18 21. Alan Techer CIP TSR-Honda 1m45.517s + 1.821s 19 22. Toni Finsterbusch Kiefer Kalex-KTM 1m45.574s + 1.878s 17 23. Ana Carrasco Laglisse KTM 1m45.574s + 1.878s 18 24. Juanfran Guevara CIP TSR-Honda 1m45.658s + 1.962s 19 25. Jonas Folger Aspar Kalex-KTM 1m45.719s + 2.023s 18 26. Jules Danilo Marc VDS Kalex-KTM 1m45.741s + 2.045s 19 27. Eric Granado Aspar Kalex-KTM 1m45.755s + 2.059s 20 28. Francesco Bagnaia Italia FTR-Honda 1m45.819s + 2.123s 20 29. Philipp Oettl Paddock Kalex-KTM 1m45.865s + 2.169s 17 30. Jasper Iwema RW Kalex-KTM 1m45.911s + 2.215s 20 31. Matteo Ferrari Ongetta FTR-Honda 1m46.550s + 2.854s 18 32. Florian Alt Kiefer Kalex-KTM 1m46.562s + 2.866s 20 33. Hyuga Watanabe Tasca Honda 1m46.564s + 2.868s 19 34. Christophe Arciero ARC Suter 1m47.920s + 4.224s 20
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