The Moto2 field took to the track at Le Mans, France for the qualifying sessions after a crash-filled day. It was cooler conditions which had various effects on the riders as some were able to push harder, yet some struggled and could only add to the number of incidents that had occurred on track.
Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider Alex Rins took the lead early with his personal best all weekend but it was not long before Garage Plus Interwetten rider Thomas Luthi, who was clearly on a mission after his previous injury where he dislocated both of his shoulders at a previous round, smashed his previous times to take the lead.
Four crashes followed in a space of a few minutes as Dynavolt Intact GP rider Jonas Folger, QMMF rider Xavier Simeon, IDEMITSU Team Asia rider Ratthapark Willairot and Tech 3 Racing rider Xavi Vierge crashed out at various corners, each, in turn, destroying their bikes. This now meant that they had a mad dash to return to the pits where their teams could be reunited with their bikes where they could hopefully repair any damage in time for the riders, who were all luckily unhurt, to return to finish the qualifying session.
By the time the first half was over Luthi had broken through the 1:37 minute barrier to set the fastest time of 1:36.847, his time became the new Moto2 lap record as he beat the previous pole time set by Rins and his own record from 2015 by 0.3 seconds.
More crashes came in the final stages as Leopard Racing team rider Miguel Oliveira came off at turn eleven, Frenchman Johann Zarco came off his bike at turn four and Vierge fell off again at turn nine ending all of their sessions a few minutes earlier than planned. As the checkered flag came out Italtrans Racing Team rider Mattia Pasini also crashed out.
Any action on the timesheets was overshadowed by the crashes that occurred frequently throughout the race. No-one could come near Luthi’s record breaking place and the German rider claimed pole ahead of Rins and Forward Team rider Lorenzo Baldassarri. Speed Up Racing team rider Simone Corsi was the fastest Speed Up in fourth ahead of local man Zarco and Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli who completed the second row.
Despite his crash, Nakagami finished in seventh ahead of Folger whose difficult weekend so far left him in eighth ahead of British championship leader Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 rider Sam Lowes who completed the third row after struggling to find the pace so far.
Baldassarri’s teammate Luca Marini qualified tenth ahead of AGR teammates Axel Pons and Marcel Schrotter. CarXpert Interwetten team rider Dominique Aegerter finished in thirteenth ahead of Oliveira and Simon who was the last rider to finish within a second of Luthi’s pole position time.
The fastest Tech 3 rider was Tech 3 Racing Team rider Xavi Vierge in twenty-second and the only Suter rode by Danny Eslick who is replacing injured Efren Vazquez on the JPMoto Malaysia Suter completes the grid as Dynavolt Intact GP rider Sandro Cortese has been advised not to ride.
