Jaume Masia timed his moment just right to take pole position for the inaugural Indian Moto3 at the Buddh International Circuit, a session that was struck by a long delay following a heavy downpour.

In an unusually disjointed two-part qualifying session that took more than an hour to complete, those through to Q2 were forced to wait on the sidelines after the hot temperatures and humidity gave way in spectacular fashion just as an otherwise dry Q1 was finishing.

While the rain eventually stopped, the 18 riders would only venture out on track once the majority of the standing water had cleared.

It meant the formbook from the three dry sessions around a new and unknown venue for the riders and teams was thrown out and those with more confidence in slippery conditions could come to the fore.

With riders staying out in the hope of catching the best of the conditions just in time for the flag, it was Masia that ultimately prevailed having largely featured at the top of the timesheets throughout the Q2 session.

Hammering home the points with a concluding benchmark of 2m 09.336 - around ten seconds down on the best dry weather times - the Leopard Racing rider was a full +0.7s up on the competition, led on the remainder of the front row by Matteo Bertelle and Ayumu Sasaki.

The change in the weather meant renowned wet weather specialist Scott Ogden played himself into contention having squeezed through into Q2 via the dry Q1 session beforehand. Briefly battling for pole position and a front row, the VisionTrack Honda rider will get away from fourth place on Sunday.

Kaito Toba sits centre of row two in fifth, with Diogo Moreira getting away from sixth position, while Stefano Nepa, Taiyo Furusato, pole favourite Collin Veijer and David Salvador rounded out the top ten.

Among the title contenders, Masia and Sasaki are well placed to overhaul current leader Daniel Holgado, the Spaniard unable to make it past Q1 for the second race in succession en route to 19th. Of his other title rivals though, Deniz Oncu starts 11th and David Alonso in 18th.