Salom on Moto3 pole in Qatar

Luis Salom took his maiden Moto3 pole position in a dramatic finale to qualifying for the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old Spaniard hit the front on his Ajo KTM with five minutes remaining, knocking Alex Rins’ Monlau-run KTM down to second.

Salom, last year’s championship runner-up, then lost the top spot himself to Maverick Vinales, who became the first man to dip below the 2m08s barrier in the session.

Salom hit back with a 2m07.423s lap, helped by a tow down the start/finish straight, and then improved on his final lap to a 2m07.229s, despite a major wobble between Turns 5 and 6.

Without a tow, Vinales was unable to usurp his countryman at the end and will start second. Rins then knocked Folger down to fourth right at the end to complete an all-Spanish front row.

Behind Folger, riding an Aspar Kalex-KTM, and Mahindra rider Miguel Oliveira, Frenchman Alan Techer will start a career-best sixth on the grid.

Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap

 1.   Luis Salom           Ajo KTM	       2m07.229s 2.   Maverick Vinales     Laglisse KTM	       2m07.337s  + 0.108s 3.   Alex Rins            Monlau KTM           2m07.596s  + 0.367s 4.   Jonas Folger         Aspar Kalex-KTM      2m07.894s  + 0.665s 5.   Miguel Oliveira      Mahindra             2m08.409s  + 1.180s 6.   Alan Techer          CIP TSR-Honda        2m08.471s  + 1.242s 7.   Jakub Kornfeil       RW Kalex-KTM         2m08.482s  + 1.253s 8.   Efren Vazquez        Mahindra             2m08.521s  + 1.292s 9.   Alex Marquez         Monlau KTM           2m08.556s  + 1.327s 10.  Arthur Sissis        Ajo KTM              2m08.567s  + 1.338s 11.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin  Ajo KTM              2m08.575s  + 1.346s 12.  Romano Fenati        Italia FTR-Honda     2m08.784s  + 1.555s 13.  Isaac Vinales        Ongetta FTR-Honda    2m08.988s  + 1.759s 14.  Niccolo Antonelli    Gresini FTR-Honda    2m09.107s  + 1.878s 15.  Danny Webb           Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m09.405s  + 2.176s 16.  Niklas Ajo           Tecno KTM            2m09.750s  + 2.521s 17.  Brad Binder          Ambrogio Suter-Honda 2m09.885s  + 2.656s 18.  Jasper Iwema         RW Kalex-KTM         2m09.911s  + 2.682s 19.  Alexis Masbou        Ongetta FTR-Honda    2m10.158s  + 2.929s 20.  John McPhee          Caretta RTG FTR-Honda2m10.195s  + 2.966s 21.  Jack Miller          Caretta RTG FTR-Honda2m10.221s  + 2.992s 22.  Juan Guevara         CIP TSR-Honda        2m10.443s  + 3.214s 23.  Ana Carrasco         Laglisse KTM         2m10.520s  + 3.291s 24.  Toni Finsterbusch    Kiefer Kalex-KTM     2m10.688s  + 3.459s 25.  Eric Granado         Aspar Kalex-KTM      2m11.798s  + 3.569s 26.  Alessandro Tonucci   Tasca-Honda          2m10.939s  + 3.710s 27.  Philipp Oettl        Paddock Kalex-KTM    2m11.000s  + 3.771s 28.  Florian Alt          Kiefer Kalex KTM     2m11.047s  + 3.818s 29.  Francesco Bagnaia    Italia FTR-Honda     2m11.284s  + 4.055s 30.  Lorenzo Baldassarri  Gresini FTR-Honda    2m11.286s  + 4.057s 31.  Matteo Ferrari       Ongetta FTR-Honda    2m11.775s  + 4.546s 32.  Hyuga Watanabe       Tasca Honda          2m12.542s  + 5.313s  

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/salom-on-moto3-pole-in-qatar

Hiroshi Fushida Beppe Gabbiani Bertrand Gachot Patrick Gaillard Divina Galica