2016 Silverstone Moto3 Qualifying Result: Rain Upsets The Applecart

About as unpredictable as the need to own an umbrella in the UK, the rain caused some upsets to the usual order in the Moto3 class. Pecco Bagnaia ended up on an unlikely pole position, his Mahindra running smoothly in the tricky conditions.

The umbrellas were out in force as the Moto3 grid took to the track although the actual rain eased up in the first few minutes of track action, leaving the riders finding their way on a damp track with different levels of success and several minor crashes.

Enea Bastianini kept it upright and got close to Bagnaia’s time but will start the race in second position. The fearless rookies were unleashed as well, with Joan Mir in sixth and Nicolo Bulega in ninth, but the most bittersweet result was that of Bo Bendsneyder, the KTM rider getting a helpful hand from teammate Brad Binder to finish in the top three but having a five-place grid penalty to deal with. That will push Niccolo Antonelli onto the front row, despite a late crash from the Italian.

Binder will lead the second row, in front of two great performances from Mir and Jules Danilo. Among other notable performances, Lorenzo Dalla Porta qualified tenth, with Maria Herrera in thirteen, after a great solo lap followed up with a crash.

The fastest man in the dry, Jorge Navarro was the first to get caught out in the early part of the session, the Spaniard crashing in turn ten and slipping down the order while his bike was enjoying a trip in the recovery van. He rejoined the track in the final ten minutes, just as the rain started to get worse and finished in eighteenth place.

Rain experts Khairul Idham Pawi and John McPhee suffered crashes and ended up outside of the top fifteen but ahead of Fabio Quartararo, the Frenchman continuing his struggles in the rain. 

Results: