Enea Bastianini snatched pole position just before the rain arrived at Assen to claim pole position for tomorrow’s Dutch TT. The Gresini rider’s expert timing secured him his first pole of 2016 ahead of the three Sky VR46 KTMs while championship leader Brad Binder qualified fifth for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
With Catalunya winner Jorge Navarro missing this weekend through injury, Estrella Galicia’s hopes rested on the shoulders of Aron Canet but the rookie lost control of his Honda at turn eight, causing extensive damage to the machine before he had put a representative time on the board.
Typically, Binder was error-free as he took provisional pole nine minutes into the session but the crucial moment came shortly before the halfway mark as Romano Fenati grabbed pole, only to be outpaced moments later by Bastianini. At this point, the rain started to fall, effectively signalling the end of the battle for the front row.
Andrea Migno and Nicolo Bulega improved to snatch second and third in the nick of time, knocking their more-experienced teammate off the front row, while Binder slipped to fifth ahead of the RBA Racing KTM of Juanfran Guevara. Home favourite Bo Bendsneyder will start a career-high of seventh with Fabio Quartararo and Fabio Di Giannantonio alongside while Francesco Bagnaia lines up tenth after having a potential pole lap time deleted.
After a sensational job by his mechanics, Canet returned to the track in the dying seconds but with conditions far from ideal, the Spanish rookie could only climb as high as sixteenth.
Moto3 Motul TT Assen (Qualifying Classification)
[table id=1201 /]
