Moto3 France: Slick switch sees Migno master wet track for pole

Andrea Migno claimed his third career pole after taking a risk on slick tyres late in Q2 to take the top spot ahead of the Moto3 French Grand Prix, round five of the championship.

The Rivacold Snipers rider, who has already sat on pole this season in Portimao, rose to the top after the changeable conditions played their part in Moto3 qualifying, with the Q2 session initially called as dry before rain fell almost immediately towards the end of the Le Mans circuit.

With almost half the track wet and the other half dry the Honda rider saw his gamble pay off, being able to push harder on the dry, while still cautious in the damp parts of the circuit he topped the timesheets by over two seconds with a best of 1m 47.407s.

Riccardo Rossi took a surprise second. The BOE Owlride KTM rider had an early collision with Niccolo Antonelli, but that gave him the opportunity to also change his tyres, leaving him able to claim second right at the end of the session, 2.001s slower but with a time that briefly held the top spot. It is the Italian’s best qualifying performance to date.

The final front row spot went to Jaume Masia thanks to his final flying lap for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

John McPhee came into the session with the best wet performance to his credit after topping FP1, he briefly lead the way until being shuffled back to fourth for Petronas Sprinta Racing.

Gabriel Rodrigo had the best time from Friday after leading the dry FP2 session. He showed enough wet weather prowess to claim fifth for Gresini.

Antonelli returned to the track to climb back to sixth for Avintia Esponsorama, with his time overtaking Filip Salac, who was the best of the riders to come through Q1 after shadowing Pedro Acosta on his way to seventh, recovering from his own Q2 fall on the second Rivacold Snipers entry.

Sergio Garcia was the best performing GasGas rider in eighth for Gaviota Aspar, just ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki, who had graduated from Q1 with the best time on his way to ninth for the SIC 58 Squadra Corse team.

The experienced Romano Fenati pushed his Husqvarna to complete the top ten for Sterilgarda Max Racing.

Ayumu Sasaki was left down in 15th after his fall at turn ten limited his track time.

Jeremy Alcoba and Dennis Foggia didn’t make the most of their move up from Q1 - they will line up in 17th and 18th respectively.

Championship leader Pedro Acosta found himself in Q1 for the first time this season. The Red Bull KTM rider gave plenty of entertainment in his first ever Le Mans qualifying appearance, followed by all after leaving the pits first then pulling off an amazing save when on a fast lap thanks to his lightning fast reactions.

The rookie, who is no stranger to recovering from poor qualifying positions will have it all to do again after his final run saw him used for a slipstream and not well positioned on track. His seventh in the session translates to 21st on the grid.

CIP Green Power’s Kaito Toba lead for much of the first half of qualifying but found himself in fifth (19th overall) when the clock ticked to zero.

Lorenzo Fellon is the only French rider in the Moto3 class. The SIC 58 Squadra Corse rider starts his home grand prix from 27th.

Wildcard Takuma Matsuyama crashed out just after the Q1 chequered flag came out. He had done enough before the tumble for 26th.

 Xavi Artigas attended hospital instead of qualifying for further checks on his left hand and a head scan after his FP3 fall.