Japanese rider Nozane improved session after session throughout Saturday, going 15th in FP3, before scoring his best qualifying result of the year with a 12th position in the Superpole qualifier (1'41.744).
After his typical stellar start, the Nozane found himself in the middle of the battle inside the Top-10 but his lack of experience with the Pirelli rain tyres soon started showing and he dropped back down the order. As his confidence built, though, the 25-year-old’s pace picked up and he started recovering towards the Top-10, only to eventually miss it by just 0.008s in favour of Chaz Davies.
On the other side of the garage, Gerloff used FP3 to find the outright speed he had been lacking yesterday and, at the end of the session, he was second. The Superpole, though, did not end in the same fashion, and the American was 10th (1'41.405), not having managed to set a faster lap during his second and final attempt. The arrival of the rain for Race 1 saw him fall on the sighting lap, leaving him unable to take the start.
For Race 1 results, click here.
