Rins dominates Saturday

Pole for Rins is the Spaniard’s fourth of the season and second in succession, having also topped qualifying for the pre-summer break German Grand Prix which he went on to win. On Saturday at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Barcelona rider posted a best time of 1’47.392, edging out teammate Marquez by just under three tenths of a second. With Salom hitting trouble, Viñales’ third spot could provide an ideal platform from which to close in on the title lead. During qualifying came a minor fall for Eric Granado (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) and two separate incidents for Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing), but it was Salom who suffered the most frightening crash; the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider highsided in the middle of the first corner and was fortunate not to be collected by those who followed. Remarkably, the Mallorcan was able to rejoin the session for the final six minutes, but will start three full rows behind pole position. Row 2 will be occupied by Mahindra Racing’s Efren Vazquez, Caretta Technology – RTG’s Jack Miler and Ajo’s Arthur Sissis, whereas the third row will consist of Jonas Folger (Aspar), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra) and Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Ajo). Joining Salom on Row 4 will be Marc VDS Racing Team rookie Livio Loi and La Fonte Tascaracing’s Alessandro Tonucci, as Salom attempts to avoid trouble.