The Moto3 class escaped the rain that head threatened to fall on the Brno circuit this afternoon but the cool and cloudy weather certainly made for some tricky track conditions. The three top riders in the current championship Sandro Cortese, Luis Salom and Maverick Viñales proved to be the men to beat throughout the day and although the lap times were inconsistent it was the latter of the trio who eventually emerged to take pole position with a stunning effort of 2'08.075.
Like most of his rivals on track MAPFRE Aspar rider Héctor Faubel went for the softer tyre compound this afternoon but it wasn't to his liking. However, the Spaniard was able to qualify in a creditable sixth place considering the injuries he sustained at Indianapolis a week ago. His team-mate Jonas Folger will start from two rows further back after struggling to find a front-end set-up with his new bike for this circuit. The German starts tenth fastest and although he was unable to set a fast lap on his own terms today he is confident he can run with the pack in tomorrow's race.
6th Héctor Faubel 2.08.880 (15 laps):
“I had an injection today for qualifying and it eased the pain but made me feel ill so I won't be doing it again for the race tomorrow. I am happy because even though I'm not 100% fit I was able to set a good pace on my own. At the end of the session I tried the softer compound but I wasn't keen on it and we know what we need to do with the setting for the race. The two top guys are a step ahead but the guys behind them are quite close so anything could happen in the race. My objective is to get a good start and hang on to the lead group for as long as I can.”
10th Jonas Folger 2.09.382 (13 laps):
“I struggled to adapt to the soft tyres today and I was losing time in the first sector. I tried to get a tow from another rider and came up behind Kent but ran out of time to set a good lap. I would have liked to be higher up on the grid and I know I can go faster but I'm still not comfortable with the feel from the front end. We have tried a lot of things and we know what we need to to do improve. It will be a tough race tomorrow and there will be a big group at the front so we need to be consistent and keep an eye out for attacks. Last weekend I finished on the podium after qualifying fifteenth so hopefully we can repeat it tomorrow.”
Mapfre Aspar Press Release
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