Brad Binder claimed his fifth pole position of the 2016 season after a frenetic conclusion to qualifying at Phillip Island. The world champion emerged on top after a four minute sprint at the end of the session, brought about by a red flag stoppage for Juanfran Guevara’s heavy accident at turn twelve.
Terrible weather conditions had wreaked havoc with the three practice sessions and right on cue, rain started to fall within seconds of the green light signalling the start of qualifying. As a result, the opening laps were carried out on wet tyres but strong winds soon dried the circuit out again, prompting Philipp Oettl to set the first lap time on slicks twenty minutes in.
Nicolo Bulega was another rider to make an early switch to dry tyres and with a quarter of an hour remaining, the rookie took over at the top. The Sky VR46 rider’s session looked to have been ended early though when he came across a touring Francesco Bagnaia at the last corner, sending him tumbling into the gravel trap.
An unexpected reprieve came in the form of Guevara’s crash with the RBA rider suffering a nasty high-side exiting turn twelve and with the Spaniard requiring trackside assistance, race direction were forced to halt the session with four minutes to go.
The stoppage bought Sky VR46 time to repair Bulega’s machine and the Italian looked set to reward his mechanics with pole position after clocking a 1:38.487 in the final minute. Crucially though, Nicolo was delayed by Fabio Di Giannantonio on his final lap, opening the door for Binder to snatch pole position.
Fabio Quartararo slipstreamed behind Binder to grab second with Bulega relegated to third while Gabriel Rodrigo took a fine fourth ahead of John McPhee and Livio Loi, two riders who boast wet-weather victories on their CV. Motegi polesitter Andrea Migno qualified seventh ahead of Darryn Binder while Jorge Martin edged out Aspar team-mate Bagnaia for ninth, although the latter may find himself in hot water for his part in Bulega’s spill.
Moto3 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix (Qualifying Result)
Pos
Rider
Constructor
Team
Best Time
1
41. Brad Binder
KTM
Red Bull KTM Ajo
1:37.696
2
20. Fabio Quartararo
KTM
Leopard Racing
1:37.790
3
8. Nicolo Bulega
KTM
Sky Racing Team VR46
1:38.487
4
19. Gabriel Rodrigo
KTM
RBA Racing Team
1:38.570
5
17. John McPhee
Peugeot
Peugeot MC Saxoprint
1:38.661
6
11. Livio Loi
Honda
RW Racing GP BV
1:38.776
7
16. Andrea Migno
KTM
Sky Racing Team VR46
1:38.981
8
40. Darryn Binder
Mahindra
Platinum Bay Real Estate
1:39.195
9
88. Jorge Martin
Mahindra
Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra
1:39.272
10
21. Francesco Bagnaia
Mahindra
Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra
1:39.347
11
36. Joan Mir
KTM
Leopard Racing
1:39.353
12
64. Bo Bendsneyder
KTM
Red Bull KTM Ajo
1:39.439
13
9. Jorge Navarro
Honda
Estrella Galicia 0,0
1:39.448
14
6. Maria Herrera
KTM
MH6 Team
1:39.472
15
55. Andrea Locatelli
KTM
Leopard Racing
1:39.485
16
33. Enea Bastianini
Honda
Gresini Racing Moto3
1:39.513
17
95. Jules Danilo
Honda
Ongetta-Rivacold
1:39.551
18
89. Khairul Idham Pawi
Honda
Honda Team Asia
1:39.589
19
23. Niccolo Antonelli
Honda
Ongetta-Rivacold
1:39.624
20
65. Philipp Oettl
KTM
Schedl GP Racing
1:39.630
21
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio
Honda
Gresini Racing Moto3
1:39.675
22
44. Aron Canet
Honda
Estrella Galicia 0,0
1:39.740
23
7. Adam Norrodin
Honda
Drive M7 SIC Racing Team
1:39.828
24
58. Juanfran Guevara
KTM
RBA Racing Team
1:39.890
25
84. Jakub Kornfeil
Honda
Drive M7 SIC Racing Team
1:40.110
26
24. Tatsuki Suzuki
Mahindra
CIP-Unicom Starker
1:40.169
27
12. Albert Arenas
Peugeot
Peugeot MC Saxoprint
1:40.236
28
48. Lorenzo Dalla Porta
KTM
Sky Racing Team VR46
1:40.412
29
76. Hiroki Ono
Honda
Honda Team Asia
1:40.537
30
43. Stefano Valtulini
Mahindra
3570 Team Italia
1:40.969
31
42. Marcos Ramirez
Mahindra
Platinum Bay Real Estate
1:40.996
32
3. Fabio Spiranelli
Mahindra
CIP-Unicom Starker
1:41.198
33
77. Lorenzo Petrarca
Mahindra
3570 Team Italia
1:41.410
NQ
14. Matt Barton
FTR Honda
Suus Honda
1:45.537