Brad Binder snatched pole position in the dying seconds of qualifying at Brno despite having an earlier time chalked off for exceeding track limits. The championship leader eventually got it right on his final lap of the afternoon to deny Andrea Migno a maiden pole position with the Sky VR46 rider forced to settle for a career-best second.
Binder had topped the combined practice timesheets heading into qualifying but Jorge Martin was the surprise pacesetter, clocking a 2:08.138. The Mahindra rider held provisional pole for over fifteen minutes before Enea Bastianini snatched top spot but a sub-2:08 lap was still proving elusive.
That all seemed to have changed with thirteen minutes remaining when Binder shaved four tenths off Bastianini’s benchmark. Crucially though, the South African was adjudged to have run wide at turn nine and his 2:07.684 soon disappeared from the timing screens.
Bastianini regained pole as a result but he was coming under threat from another Aspar Mahindra with Francesco Bagnaia setting red sector times but the Assen winner lost control at turn eleven, losing his grip on a potential pole position and slipping to seventeenth. Perhaps the pressure had told on Bastianini too, as the Gresini rider crashed out himself moments later.
With two key challengers out of play, Migno looked to have timed his run to perfection, going fastest with a 2:07.943, but Binder had finally executed a clean lap just behind him and snatched pole by 0.158s. Bastianini held onto third ahead of Martin while Fabio Di Giannantonio and Nicolo Bulega led the rookie challenge in fifth and sixth respectively.
Niccolo Antonelli starts seventh ahead of Philipp Oettl and another rookie in Aron Canet with Jakub Kornfeil completing the top ten for the SIC squad.
Moto3 HJC Helmets Grand Prix Ceske Republiky (Qualifying Result)
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