Saturday’s Moto3™ QP at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan saw Danny Kent take pole, with Niccolo Antonelli and John McPhee also securing front row slots.

In perfect sunny and dry conditions at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) set a new Moto3™ pole position record around the Japanese track. Having been fastest also on Friday at the venue of his first ever GP win in 2012 the Englishman produced a superb 1’56.555 lap for his first pole of 2014.

Behind Kent, Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) made an improvement in the final stages to qualify second (+0.344s) with McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG) just +0.008s further back in third.

Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) qualified fourth, whilst Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) survived a big crash to secure fifth. The second row was completed by Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team).

Championship leader Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) make up row three, despite a crash for Rins in the session. The top ten was completed by Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) who therefore heads row four.

Rins had an early fall but was able to get his Honda back to the pits where his team quickly repaired the bike. Fellow title rival Miller had a vicious highside exiting Turn 5, but was unhurt and able to quickly rejoin the session.

The final five minutes saw Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) have his second fall of the day, Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) and Matteo Ferrari (San Carlo Team Italia) also fell together but were unhurt. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Ongetta-AriAsia) crashed on his final flying lap. None of the riders were hurt in their crashes.

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/Moto3+Motegi+QP+Kent