First pole for Vinales

 Maverick Viñales confidently earned his first pole position of 2013 for the Moto3™ Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans, with the Team Calvo rider sharing the front row with Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger. Fresh from his first victory of the campaign at home in Spain a fortnight ago, Viñales confidently beat the previous best lap time of the French weekend to post a 1’43.696, with Portugal’s Oliveira missing out by just over a tenth of a second, but improving on Mahindra’s previous best of fifth place so far this year. In third, German Folger will line up inside the top five for the third time in four races. With the result marking the first time in 2013 that the front row has not been completely locked out by Spanish riders, Row 2 will be occupied by Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins, Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom (who had just returned to the circuit from hospital, where he was given the all-clear after kidney ultrasound following a crash in final practice) and Caretta Technology – RTG’s Jack Miller. As Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez, Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Isaac Viñales, Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo and Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou rounded out the top ten, Ambrogio Racing’s Danny Webb limped slightly as he walked away from a sizeable highside accident at Musee corner; he was taken for a CT scan afterwards, with his participation being ultimately decided in the morning. He would start from 18th. San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati in 11th, and Ambrogio’s Brad Binder in 12th, also suffered falls during the session.