Vinales claims third straight Moto3 pole at Silverstone
Maverick Vinales made it three Moto3 pole positions in a row with a late burst of speed in qualifying for the British Grand Prix
The 17-year-old Spaniard used a double slipstream down the Hangar Straight to help him to a table-topping time of 2m16.187s with nine minutes to go, and was set to improve his time on his final lap before his Avintia FTR-Honda was overtaken by Luis Salom in the final complex of corners.
Despite that incident meaning no improvement from Vinales, his earlier time was still fast enough to secure pole.
Efren Vazquez was Vinales' nearest challenger for the second event in a row; the Laglisse FTR-Honda rider just 0.198s slower than his countryman. Alexis Masbou was an impressive third on his Caretta Honda, sealing his best grid spot of the year.
Salom's final lap netted him fourth spot, but shortly after the end of the session that lap time was taken away as the Spanish RW Kalex-KTM rider had exceeded the track limits at the final turn.
He slipped back to sixth as a result, behind championship leader Sandro Cortese and British rider Danny Kent on their Ajo KTMs.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Maverick Vinales Avintia FTR-Honda 2m16.187s 2. Efren Vazquez Laglisse Honda 2m16.385s + 0.198s 3. Alexis Masbou Caretta Honda 2m17.043s + 0.856s 4. Sandro Cortese Ajo KTM 2m17.123s + 0.936s 5. Danny Kent Ajo KTM 2m17.337s + 1.150s 6. Luis Salom RW Kalex-KTM 2m17.485s + 1.298s 7. Louis Rossi Germany FTR-Honda 2m17.539s + 1.352s 8. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo KTM 2m17.873s + 1.686s 9. Romano Fenati Italia FMI FTR-Honda 2m17.904s + 1.717s 10. Alex Rins Monlau Honda 2m17.908s + 1.721s 11. Miguel Oliveira Monlau Honda 2m18.090s + 1.903s 12. Alessandro Tonucci Italia FMI FTR-Honda 2m18.151s + 1.964s 13. Niccolo Antonelli Gresini Honda 2m18.238s + 2.051s 14. Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m18.422s + 2.235s 15. Arthur Sissis Ajo KTM 2m18.535s + 2.348s 16. Alberto Moncayo Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m18.832s + 2.645s 17. Alan Techer Technomag-CIP TSR-Honda 2m18.937s + 2.750s 18. Niklas Ajo TT Motion KTM 2m18.978s + 2.791s 19. Jonas Folger Ioda 2m19.015s + 2.828s 20. Adrian Martin Laglisse Honda 2m19.033s + 2.846s 21. Danny Webb Mahindra 2m19.128s + 2.941s 22. Jasper Iwema FGR-Honda 2m19.530s + 3.343s 23. Hector Faubel Aspar Kalex-KTM 2m19.707s + 3.520s 24. Jack Miller Caretta Honda 2m19.723s + 3.536s 25. Simone Giorgi Amborgio Oral 2m20.041s + 3.854s 26. Brad Binder RW Kalex-KTM 2m20.080s + 3.893s 27. Toni Finsterbusch MZ-Honda 2m20.240s + 4.053s 28. Isaac Vinales Ongetta FTR-Honda 2m20.440s + 4.253s 29. John McPhee Racing Steps KPR Honda 2m21.063s + 4.876s 30. Kenta Fujii Technomag-CIP TSR-Honda 2m21.154s + 4.967s 31. Luigi Morciano Ioda 2m21.310s + 5.123s 32. Giulian Pedone Ambrogio Oral 2m21.428s + 5.241s 33. Fraser Rogers Racing Steps KPR Honda 2m21.687s + 5.500s 34. Ivan Moreno Laglisse FTR-Honda 2m21.744s + 5.557s 35. Marcel Schrotter Mahindra 2m21.807s + 5.620s
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