Not for the first two, with Franco Morbidelli snitching his fifth pole of the year from team-mate Alex Marquez after the flag, and by a huge margin of a quarter of a second. Points leader Morbidelli had been eighth and worried, overtaking being difficult here – but in spite of heavier rain mid-session times dropped, and he went out to try again.

Behind the leading pair of team-mates, things got different. Former Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Suter) had led and remained third – a significant turnaround after a dire season so far.

All the more surprising, GP debutant Hector Garzo was fifth, in the middle of row two, between Mugello winner Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Kalex) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM), who had led for much of the session.

The 19-year-old Spaniard Garzo was riding the Tech 3 in place of the injured Xavi Vierge. Not unimpressive in 22nd in the dry, he revelled in the wet, and had even challenged for pole before the final scramble.

Tom Luthi (CarXpert Kalex) led row three; Remy Gardner (Tech 3) was 14th.

The grid was mixed to the back, with previous German GP winner Dominique Aegerter 17th and Assen podium finisher Taka Nakagami 25th.

MOTO3

Moto3 qualifying was briefly interrupted by rain flags, but dried again by the end, and the top 19 were within a second of pole.

Title leader Joan Mir (Leopard Honda) seemed to have been in control until the dying minutes, when Assen winner Aron Canet (EG Honda) pulled a blinder and took his second pole of the year by 0.245 of a second. It was too late for Mir to do anything about it.

Nicolo Bulega (SKY VR46 KTM) was third; Marcos Ramirez (Platinum Bay KTM) led row two from rookie Tony Arbolino (SIC58 Honda) and Romano Fenati (Rivacold Honda).