Submitted by Jacob Leech on
Full Recap and Results Below.
Jack Miller has taken a commanding and decisive pole position during a typically chaotic Moto3 qualifying session at the Sepang circuit. The Australian managed to avoid the farcical levels of traffic and make the most of slipstreams down both the back and front straights to post a blistering time of 2:12.450. Morning pace-setter John McPhee claimed second spot but was almost half a second shy of Miller's pole-setting time which was one and a half seconds quicker than the existing pole record. Jakub Kornfeil continued his strong weekend to date to take third place and round out the front row.
Spaniard Efren Vazquez will head up row two having topped the time sheets midway through the session, he will be joined on the second row by Alex Marquez and Romano Fenati. Championship leader Marquez crashed at turn six with five minutes remaining, he was unable to complete any further laps in the session due to damage to his Honda. Danny Kent recovered from a late low speed crash to post the seventh quickest time on his final lap of the session while Isaac Vinales and Miguel Oliveira will line up along side the Brit on row three for tomorrow's race.
Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Prev |
| 1 | 8 | Jack MILLER | KTM | 2'12.450 | ||
| 2 | 17 | John MCPHEE | Honda | 2'12.909 | 0.459 | 0.459 |
| 3 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | 2'13.016 | 0.566 | 0.107 |
| 4 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | Honda | 2'13.040 | 0.590 | 0.024 |
| 5 | 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | 2'13.315 | 0.865 | 0.275 |
| 6 | 5 | Romano FENATI | KTM | 2'13.434 | 0.984 | 0.119 |
| 7 | 52 | Danny KENT | Husqvarna | 2'13.529 | 1.079 | 0.095 |
| 8 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | KTM | 2'13.556 | 1.106 | 0.027 |
| 9 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Mahindra | 2'13.679 | 1.229 | 0.123 |
| 10 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | KTM | 2'13.709 | 1.259 | 0.030 |
| 11 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | Honda | 2'13.822 | 1.372 | 0.113 |
| 12 | 98 | Karel HANIKA | KTM | 2'13.884 | 1.434 | 0.062 |
| 13 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | KTM | 2'13.990 | 1.540 | 0.106 |
| 14 | 31 | Niklas AJO | Husqvarna | 2'14.155 | 1.705 | 0.165 |
| 15 | 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | KTM | 2'14.290 | 1.840 | 0.135 |
| 16 | 38 | Hafiq AZMI | KTM | 2'14.413 | 1.963 | 0.123 |
| 17 | 42 | Alex RINS | Honda | 2'14.444 | 1.994 | 0.031 |
| 18 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | Mahindra | 2'14.796 | 2.346 | 0.352 |
| 19 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | Kalex KTM | 2'14.799 | 2.349 | 0.003 |
| 20 | 99 | Jorge NAVARRO | Kalex KTM | 2'15.277 | 2.827 | 0.478 |
| 21 | 93 | Ramdan ROSLI | KTM | 2'15.455 | 3.005 | 0.178 |
| 22 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | Honda | 2'15.498 | 3.048 | 0.043 |
| 23 | 3 | Matteo FERRARI | Mahindra | 2'15.509 | 3.059 | 0.011 |
| 24 | 43 | Luca GRÜNWALD | Kalex KTM | 2'15.595 | 3.145 | 0.086 |
| 25 | 41 | Brad BINDER | Mahindra | 2'15.619 | 3.169 | 0.024 |
| 26 | 95 | Jules DANILO | Mahindra | 2'15.656 | 3.206 | 0.037 |
| 27 | 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Mahindra | 2'15.750 | 3.300 | 0.094 |
| 28 | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | Mahindra | 2'15.828 | 3.378 | 0.078 |
| 29 | 2 | Remy GARDNER | KTM | 2'15.875 | 3.425 | 0.047 |
| 30 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | Kalex KTM | 2'16.057 | 3.607 | 0.182 |
| 31 | 88 | Hafiza ROFA | KTM | 2'16.104 | 3.654 | 0.047 |
| 32 | 13 | Jasper IWEMA | Mahindra | 2'16.253 | 3.803 | 0.149 |
| 33 | 9 | Scott DEROUE | Kalex KTM | 2'16.326 | 3.876 | 0.073 |
| 34 | 4 | Gabriel RAMOS | Kalex KTM | 2'16.929 | 4.479 | 0.603 |
Comments
Luck
It's true that riders make their own luck to a large extent, but Marquez must have really avoided black cats and broken mirrors in the second half of this season. First his coming together with Miller at Aragon while battling for the lead puts Jack instantly out of the race while he goes on to win. Just a racing incident sure but for it to play out like that worked out well for Marquez. Then at Phillip Island Jack wins the race but Alex squeezes second by thousandths of a second and only loses 5 points. Now Alex crashes in qualifying and ends up nearly a second of pole, but due to so many riders tripping over each other in the last minutes he's still on the second row. Plus the Honda has some extra grunt this season which is really helping Alex out in some these wild Moto3 brawls.
Bimbling Around Waiting for a Tow
I can't think of a good way to prevent the idiotic practice, but it really has to stop before someone gets hurt or killed because of it.
I can think of several very bad ways to prevent the practice, just not good, enforceable ways...
Tow cadging
Is it too much to ask that action is taken before the inevitable accidents?
Hear, hear! Before the
Hear, hear! Before the inevitable!
Irresponsible antics
Moto3 riders increasingly seem to suffer collective brain fade. What a ridiculous qualifying that was, even more so than at Phillip Island. They were doing a sur-place on the fastest part of the track, for crying out loud. Some were even crossing the track at walking speed.
If this is because the lightest GP class has been turned into a learner class for children with scooter engines, then maybe it's time to at least reconsider the age limit.