Czech mate: Kornfeil storms to home GP pole

The Czech rider timed his final run to perfection to lead McPhee and Ramirez in qualifying

Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrustelGP) claimed a first Czech pole in any class since Misano 2007 and was the first Czech rider to take pole in Brno at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky after timing his lap to perfection to delight the home crowd, as John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) set the second quickest time of the session with the two leading the one-lap charge at the end of qualifying.

In a Moto3™ session where a whole host of riders missed the chance to set a hot lap time at the end, the onus was left to Kornfeil and McPhee as they soared to P1 and P2, the Scot 0.419 behind. Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) secured third place on the grid after a stellar final lap, with Friday’s quickest man Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) spearheading the second row of the grid in fourth after also timing it just right to get quick lap in as the clocked ticked.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) was P1 with two minutes of the session to go, but the Italian left pit lane too late and took the checkered flag before he could set a final lap – ‘Diggia’ settled for 5th. Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) had the same problem and will start from sixth after looking set for a front row start, with Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) suffering the same fate – seventh for FP3’s quickest man.

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia) did manage to set a time right at the death and propelled himself into eighth place – his best qualifying result of the season. Two more riders who failed to get their timing right were Nicolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing), the two Italians round out the top ten in ninth and tenth respectively.

Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) starts P11, with Kazuki Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) and Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) 12th and 13th for Sunday’s race.

With Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) sidelined with a left radius fracture, Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP) has a chance to take the lead in Championship again this weekend. However, the Italian was another rider to miss out on the chance to improve on his eighth position before the final run and dropped to P14. Can he mount a podium challenge from there?

Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) suffered a nasty looking highside at Turn 5 at the beginning of the session and was unable to set a time – rider ok after going to the medical centre for a checkup. Then, fellow Japanese rider Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) crashed out, also unable to set a time in qualifying which leaves them starting from the back of the grid. Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team Moto3) was a late faller at Turn 1, rider ok and he’ll launch from P15 on Sunday.

So, it’s home hero Kornfeil who took the Moto3™ qualifying honours at Brno, can he covert it into his maiden Grand Prix victory? Find out when the lightweight class go racing at 11:00 local time (GMT +2).

Click here for the full results!