Maverick Vinales steals Mugello Moto3 pole from title rival Sandro Cortese
Maverick Vinales stole pole position for the Italian Moto3 Grand Prix from title rival Sandro Cortese with his final lap of the session
The Spaniard, quickest in all three practice sessions at Mugello, gained a massive four tenths of a second over his opponent as the chequered flag fell, making use of the slipstream from a gaggle of riders in front of him as he crossed the line.
Prior to that, it appeared traffic could be his downfall: several riders sitting up and spoiling quick laps for Vinales as they attempted to lock into his tow.
While the Avintia rider was forced to cut his way through the resulting traffic, Ajo man Cortese had a relatively clear track and went top with four minutes remaining, before lowering his benchmark next time around to a 1m58.587s.
Vinales was not to be denied however, and after a torrid weekend at the Sachsenring last week he duly sealed his fourth pole of the season.
Monlau's Alex Rins completes the front row for Sunday's race, with Efren Vazquez (Laglisse), Danny Kent (Ajo) and home favourite Niccolo Antonelli (Gresini) sixth. Fellow rising Italian star Romano Fenati took eighth for Team Italia, behind Ajo's Zulfahmi Khairuddin.
Laglisse rider Ivan Moreno crashed heavily at the first corner near the end of the session and had to be stretchered away.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Maverick Vinales Avintia FTR-Honda 1m57.980s 2. Sandro Cortese Ajo KTM 1m58.401s + 0.421s 3. Alex Rins Monlau Suter-Honda 1m58.821s + 0.841s 4. Efren Vazquez Laglisse FTR-Honda 1m58.840s + 0.860s 5. Danny Kent Ajo KTM 1m59.089s + 1.109s 6. Niccolo Antonelli Gresini FTR-Honda 1m59.361s + 1.381s 7. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo KTM 1m59.391s + 1.411s 8. Romano Fenati Italia FMI FTR-Honda 1m59.465s + 1.485s 9. Luis Salom RW Kalex-KTM 1m59.473s + 1.493s 10. Hector Faubel Aspar Kalex-KTM 1m59.573s + 1.593s 11. Louis Rossi Germany FTR-Honda 1m59.680s + 1.700s 12. Alberto Moncayo Aspar Kalex-KTM 1m59.698s + 1.718s 13. Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta FTR-Honda 1m59.777s + 1.797s 14. Alan Techer Technomag-CIP TSR-Honda 1m59.878s + 1.898s 15. Kevin Calia Ciatti Honda 1m59.955s + 1.975s 16. Miguel Oliveira Monlau Suter-Honda 1m59.966s + 1.986s 17. Alexis Masbou Caretta Honda 2m00.463s + 2.483s 18. Brad Binder RW Kalex-KTM 2m00.774s + 2.794s 19. Alessandro Tonucci Italia FMI FTR-Honda 2m00.784s + 2.804s 20. Michael Ruben Rinaldi Gabrielli Honda 2m00.894s + 2.914s 21. Toni Finsterbusch MZ-Honda 2m00.925s + 2.945s 22. Giulian Pedone Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m00.958s + 2.978s 23. Isaac Vinales Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m01.167s + 3.187s 24. Adrian Martin Laglisse FTR-Honda 2m01.183s + 3.203s 25. Jack Miller Caretta Honda 2m01.213s + 3.233s 26. Jonas Folger Ioda 2m01.217s + 3.237s 27. Simone Grotzkyj Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m01.308s + 3.328s 28. Niklas Ajo TT Motion KTM 2m01.310s + 3.330s 29. Arthur Sissis Ajo KTM 2m01.317s + 3.337s 30. Ivan Moreno Laglisse FTR-Honda 2m01.319s + 3.339s 31. Jasper Iwema FGR-Honda 2m01.362s + 3.382s 32. Danny Webb Mahindra 2m01.463s + 3.483s 33. Riccardo Moretti Mahindra 2m01.780s + 3.800s 34. Luigi Morciano Ioda Italia 2m02.446s + 4.466s 35. Kenta Fujii Technomag-CIP TSR-Honda 2m04.773s + 6.793s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Alonso hit with penalty for Sainz clash in China F1 sprint
Norris had no reason to apologise for China F1 sprint showing, says McLaren
Supercars New Zealand: Heimgartner splashes to Taupo opener victory
Hamilton: Norris would have been better off conceding in Turn 1
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