Moto3 Australian qualifying: Pratama takes first pole, Pini fights his way back

Joel Kelso had long dreamed of taking pole in front of his home crowd, but in the final minute everything came crashing down. At Phillip Island, Veda Pratama took pole position in qualifying for the Australian Moto3 Grand Prix, setting a 1'35"299 on his final attempt to claim his first pole.

World Champion Maximo Quiles finished second, with home rider Kelso third. It was a chaotic Q2, with rain arriving halfway through the session and a late collision that enraged the local favorite’s team. Our Guido Pini will start from the third row after qualifying eighth. Matteo Bertelle posted the tenth-fastest time.

After ideal conditions on Friday, Saturday in Australia began in the rain. By the time the Moto3 session got underway, however, the track had dried completely. The benchmark was Alvaro Carpe’s fastest time from Friday, a 1'35"292.

Guido Pini was quickest in Q1: the Leopard team rider clocked a 1'36"261 to advance to Q2 alongside Casey O'Gorman, Eddie O'Shea and Veda Pratama. Leo Rammerstorfer finished seventh and was eliminated.

At the start of Q2, Kelso, aboard a Honda in a special livery, set the pace with a 1'35"671. Raindrops then began to fall again, but the riders kept pushing. Pini and Pratama, two of the riders promoted from Q1, quickly slotted in behind the Australian, who lowered the benchmark to 1'35"366 halfway through the session.

Quiles was outside the top 10 at that point: he posted a red sector but lost time over the rest of the lap, ending up seventh. Several riders returned to the pits to fit fresh tires, while Turn 4 became a trap: David Almansa (IntactGP) ran into the gravel but managed to pick up his KTM, and several others outbraked themselves and ran wide.

With one minute to go, Joel Esteban missed Kelso’s time by just 10 thousandths, before Quiles took the lead with a 46-thousandth advantage over the Australian. But Pratama had the final word, snatching pole with his last lap. There was also a tense moment at Turn 4: Rico Salmela misjudged his braking and hit the rear of Kelso’s Honda. Salmela crashed, while Kelso managed to carry on and bring his bike back to parc fermé.

Behind the leading trio, the second row will be made up of Joel Esteban, Eddie O'Shea and Adrian Fernandez. The two IntactGP riders, Almansa and David Munoz, will start 11th and 16th, while Carpe, Friday’s fastest rider, had to settle for 12th. In the race, Kelso will look to turn his anger over the collision into a result in front of his home fans, with Quiles and Pratama ready to spoil the party.

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