Jaume Masia claimed his maiden Moto3 pole position in a strange Moto3 qualifying session by 0.319 ahead of Aron Canet around the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
With riders and teams still adjusting to the new qualifying format, the opening 5 minutes of the fifteen-minute session were spent with a game of cat and mouse taking place in the pit lane with riders stepping out and getting on their bikes, only to then go and sit back down in the box.
Despite more messing around, when the action eventually got underway, it was Qatar race winner Kaito Toba who went fastest first, before Q1 fast man Canet went to the top with a little over three minutes remaining.
Nobody was on the pace of Masia however, half a second up through the first half of the lap, the Spaniard had a lap ruined by traffic in the final sector, however, one lap later, he wasn’t held up and posted a 1:48.775, which was good enough for pole.
Tony Arbolino will join Masia and Canet on the front row, with Lorenzo Dalla Porta and his Leopard bike heading the second row. Nico Antonelli will start from fifth with Andrea Migno rounding out an all-Italian second row.
Moto3 bad-boy Romano Fenati will start from seventh and will be joined on the third row by Japanese duo Toba and Ayumu Sasaki. Raul Fernandez rounded out the top ten, just ahead of John McPhee. McPhee will be disappointed to be down on the fourth row after his free practice pace. Marcos Ramirez will be on the outside of row four in twelfth.
Home-town hero Gabi Rodrigo will start from thirteenth, with Tatsuki Suzuki and Ai Ogura joining the Argentine on the fifth row.
