#ArgentinaGP, Moto3 QP: John McPhee before the downpour

During a qualifying session which took place mainly in the dry, the Scotsman John McPhee managed to win ahead of Nicolo Bulega, Jorge Martin, Aron Canet, Fabio di Giannantonio and Romano Fenati. Joan Mir was only sixteenth.

#ArgentinaGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'52.467 Enea Bastianini	1'51.559 Joan Mir
FP2	1'51.137 Enea Bastianini	1'50.248 Joan Mir
FP3	1'49.994 Romano Fenati	1'49.792 Nicolo Bulega
QP	1'49.767 Brad Binder	1'49.094 John McPhee
Warm Up	1'59.445 Khairul Idham Pawi
Course	Pawi Navarro Binder
All time lap record	1'48.461 Oliveira 2015

The reference time was the 1'49.792 established by Nicolo Bulega during the third qualifying session. But it had rained in the meantime for FP3 in the MotoGP category, which changed the quality of the grip on the asphalt. The air temperature was 18° and that of the track 22°. The wind was quite weak (around 15 km/h) but the clouds were present.

Everyone rushed onto the track with the rear medium, with the intention of some to mount their two mediums in a row, rather than adopting the usual sequence for the medium-hard-medium qualifying session. The fastest at the start of the session was Joan mir in 1'50.199. Albert Arenas fell quite heavily in turn 11 and got up with difficulty. He was sent to the medical PC to check that he did not have a concussion, before being able to ride again.

Andrea Migno came second at 0.003, then first in 1'49.830. Jules Danilo was nineteenth at 1.03. At mid-session, Migno was ahead of Darryn Binder, Nicolo Bulega, Joan Mir and Juanfran Guevara. According to the pilots, the track conditions were identical to those of FP3 in the morning, with less wind. Aron canet moved from eleventh place to second, 0.002 behind Migno.

Niccolo Antonelli moved up to fifth position. During the three editions of the Argentine Grand Prix contested at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, his Red Bull KTM Ajo team took pole position each time. Roman Fenati took command in 1'49.525, 0.01 ahead Fabio di Giannantonio. Aron canet ahead of them in 1'49.463. He then used, like most of his opponents, his second and last medium rear tire.

George Martin took the lead in 1'49.323, then John mcphee preceded him in 1'49.094. We were getting closer to 1'48. Everyone returned to the pits with 12 minutes to go. Rain didn't seem to threaten. Nobody was driving. Albert Arenas did not return to the track after his fall. The final rush began 7 minutes from the checkered flag, with almost all the drivers (including Arenas, good news) leaving the pits at the same time.

It was the moment when a fine rain began to fall. The marshals presented the flags in several turns. Fenati, then fifth, did not insist and returned to his pit. The others continued, with Livio Law who moved up to tenth position in 1'49.927, which indicated that the track was passable. Nicholas Bulega went second, 0.1 behind McPhee.

The best time went to John McPhee, ahead of Nicolo Bulega, Jorge Martin, Aron Canet, Fabio di Giannantonio and Romano Fenati. Joan Mir was only sixteenth, while Jules Danilo ranked twenty-eighth.

Qualification results:

1. John mcphee GBR British Talent Team (Honda) 1m 49.094s
2. Nicholas Bulega ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 49.248s
3. George Martin SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 49.323s
4. Aron canet SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 49.463s
5. Fabio DiGiannantonio ITA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 49.486s
6. Roman Fenati ITA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 49.493s
7. Juanfran Guevara SPA RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 49.782s
8. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 49.830s
9. Tatsuki suzuki JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 49.843s
10. Philipp Oettl GER Südmetall Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 1m 49.860s
11. Darryn binder RSA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 49.901s
12. Livio Law BEL Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 49.927s
13. gabriel rodrigo ARG RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 49.935s
14. Niccolo Antonelli ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 49.974s
15. Enea Bastianini ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 49.978s
16. Joan mir SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 50.025s
17. Will Bendsneyder NED Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 50.042s
18. Kaito Toba JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 1m 50.067s
19. Albert Arenas SPA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 1m 50.093s
20. Maria Herrera SPA AGR Team (KTM) 1m 50.107s
21. Adam Norrodin MAL SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 50.126s
22. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 1m 50.163s
23. Marco Bezzecchi ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 50.250s
24. Tony Arbolino ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 50.328s
25. Ayumu Sasaki JPN SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 50.668s
26. Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 1m 50.681s
27. Marcos Ramirez SPA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 50.727s
28. Jules Danilo FRA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 50.781s
29. Manuel Pagliani ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 50.783s
30. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat THA Honda Team Asia (Honda) 1m 51.180s
31. Patrick Pulkkinen END Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 1m 52.615s