It was Brad Binder that took pole position in an eventful Moto3 session which saw changeable conditions early on and a late red flag.
The riders were ready for the start of the session to be dry as the rain had cleared from earlier in the day. However as soon as the light went green at the end of the pitlane, a heavy shower started. Riders carefully made their way back to pitlane on the slick tyres but Niccolo Antonelli lost it at the Turn 4 hairpin.
The riders then went back out on the wet tyres. The large winds helped dry the track very quickly and times improved rapidly. It was Francesco Bagnaia who set the fastest time on the wet tyres with a 1m44.704s with 22 minutes remaining. Just one and a half minutes later, Phillip Oettl would set the first time on slicks and go 2.1s faster.
Nicolo Bulega looked the strongest on the drying track and was fastest and looking to go even quicker. Bulega was coming up to Bagnaia at the end of a quick lap (at the fast Turn 12) as Bagnaia was preparing to start one. Bulega was forced to go onto the wet kerb to get passed and had a massive moment. He managed to avoid high-siding off the bike, but he ran into the gravel and eventually fell just before the barrier.
John McPhee then moved the times forward significantly thanks to double slipstream off the final turn. This time was quickly beaten by champion Brad Binder as the track continued to improve into the last eight minutes.
Juanfran Guevara was up on the pole time going into the final section of the track but then crashed. He was left lying by the side of track and a red flag was brought out with little over four minutes remaining. He was taken to the medical centre and was conscious.
Conditions improved a lot over the 10 minute red flag period and so the last two laps after the restart were crucial. The extra time gave The VR46 Team time to repair Bulega’s bike and so he was able to fight for pole like he deserved.
There was lots of moving around on the out lap, as riders looked for the optimal position in the 34 bike queue. Andrea Locatelli, who was third, was too focused on getting a good position and at the hairpin while looking backwards, suffered a small high-side. Aaron Canet and Hiroki Ono also suffered crashes in this late stage.
It was Bulega who went fastest on the first of the laps after the red flag, but it was Brad Binder who made the lap when it counted and put himself on pole with a 1m37.696s ahead of Fabio Quartararo and then Bulega, Gabriel Rodrigo, John McPhee and Livio Loi line up on row two. Andrea Migno, Darryn Binder and Jorge Martin on row three and Francesco Bagnaia rounds out the top 10.
