Adrian Fernandez earned pole position during Moto3 World Championship qualifying Saturday afternoon at Le Mans, in France. Riding his Leopard Racing Honda on Pirelli control tires, the Spaniard topped the 26-rider field with a lap time of 1:40.044.

Maximo Quiles was the best of the rest with a 1:40.184 on his CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team KTM, and Joel Kelso claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:40.204 on his GRYD MLav Racing Honda. 

Row-two qualifiers included Quiles’ teammate Marco Morelli (1:40.260), Liqui Moly Dynavolt IntactGP’s David Munoz (1:40.280) and Honda Team Asia’s Veda Pratama (1:40.304).

More from a press release issued by MotoGP:

Fernandez takes last gasp pole in France. The Leopard Racing rider denies Quiles late on in Le Mans. 

Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) made a late dash to grab pole position in Le Mans, putting in a 1:40.044 to deny Maximo Quiles (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) by just under a tenth and a half. Joel Kelso (GRYD – MLav Racing) takes third place to compete the front row for the French GP.

Q1 was equally decided late on as Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) topped the pile, moving through along with Adrian Cruces (CIP Green Power), Cormac Buchanan (CODE Motorsports) and Guido Pini (Leopard Racing).

Once Q2 was underway, it looked a dead cert for Quiles to take pole after a late lap cancellation for Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) demoted him, but Fernandez was on flyer – and he kept it together to take over on top, denying Quiles. Kelso takes third.

Marco Morelli (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) heads Row 2 ahead of David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Indonesian Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia). Uriarte ultimately ended up P7, just ahead of teammate Carpe, with Matteo Bertelle (LEVEL UP-MTA) taking P9 to round out Row 3. Eddie O’Shea (GRYD – MLav Racing) completes the top ten.

See full results from Moto3 qualifying at Le Mans and come back for the racing action on Sunday!