Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) scored his first Grand Prix pole position in this afternoon’s Honda-powered Moto2 qualifying session with a brilliant final lap that put him almost seven tenths of a second ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex). Spaniard Nicolas Terol (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter) completed the front row, just 0.021 seconds behind the Japanese.

Championship leader Pol Espargaro (Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex), who took pole and race victory in Qatar, had a difficult session, ending up seventh quickest, which puts him at the top of the third row. The second row consists of fourth fastest Esteve Rabat (Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert Suter) and Simone Corsi (NGM Mobile Racing Speed Up).



Scott Redding, Marc VDS Racing Team: pole position, 2m 10.577s

“The big thing for the race will be saving the rear tyre because after three or four laps it drops down a lot. I will have to focus very hard to control that. To be on pole is great, I’ve taken a lot of confidence from it. I’ve not found the track difficult to learn but the grip is always changing – it was slippery yesterday morning, then it got better and then it went away again in qualifying, so we will have to adapt to it in the race as well as we can.”

Takaaki Nakagami, Italtrans Racing Team: 2nd, 2m 11.266s

“Being second for the second race in a row isn’t boring, even if I would have preferred pole. Anyway, the general feeling is positive because we have been up front all weekend and a front-row start was what I wanted. It will be a very difficult race because no one knows how long the tyres will last, but it’s the same for everybody. We are still looking for a sweeter setting because the bike is still a little too harsh.”

Nicolas Terol, Mapfre Aspar Team: 3rd, 2m 11.287s

“Throughout the weekend we’ve kept a great pace. In this circuit I felt comfortable from the first moment. In Qatar I also felt good but in the race things went wrong. Before qualifying here it was clear that we could fight for the first row, as throughout the GP I’ve had a great feeling with the bike. I am very happy to reach third position. In this circuit we have to take tyre consumption into account, because they degrade quickly. I noticed this today – when the track has more grip it seems to burn up the tyres. In warm-up we will try to optimise the set-up to minimise tyre wear. In the race it will be important to be gentle with the throttle. The race will be tough and I will have to fight hard.”


Qualifying position

1 Scott Redding 2m10.577s GBR KALEX Marc VDS Racing Team
2 Takaaki Nakagima 0.689 JPN KALEX Italtrans Racing Team
3 Nicolas Terol 0.710 ESP SUTER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2
4 Esteve Rabat 0.806 ESP KALEX Tuenti HP 40
5 Dominique Aegerter 1.029 SWI SUTER Technomag CarXpert
6 Simone Corsi 1.148 ITA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
7 Pol Espargaro 1.261 ESP KALEX Tuenti HP 40
8 Xavier Simeon 1.282 GER KALEX Desguaces La Torre SAG/Zelos
9 Mika Kallio 1.348 FIN KALEX Marc VDS Racing Team
10 Julian Simon 1.424 SPA KALEX Italtrans Racing Team
11 Anthony West 1.764 AUS SPEED UP QMMF Racing Team
12 Jordi Torres 1.769 ESP SUTER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2
13 Danny Kent 1.822 GBR TECH 3 Tech 3 Racing
14 Marcel Schrotter 1.952 GER KALEX Desguaces La Torre SAG/Zelos
15 Randy Krummenacher 2.002 SWI SUTER Technomag CarXpert
16 Toni Elias 2.137 SPA KALEX Blusen Avianta
17 Johann Zarco 2.180 FRA SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
18 Mike De Meglio 2.409 FRA MOTOBI JiR Moto2
19 Kyle Smith 2.437 GBR KALEX Blusen Avianta
20 Sandro Cortese 2.473 GER KALEX Dynavolt Intact GP
21 Axel Pons 2.517 SPA KALEX Tuenti HP 40
22 Ricard Cardus 2.544 SPA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
23 Ratthapark Wilairot 2.652 THA SUTER Honda Gresini Moto2
24 Mattia Pasini 2.718 ITA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
25 Alex De Angelis 2.805 SMR SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
26 Yuki Takahashi 3.286 JAP MORIWAKI Idemitsu Honda Team Asia
27 Louis Rossi 3.531 FRA TECH 3 Tech 3 Racing
28 Alberto Moncayo 4.072 ESP SPEED UP Argiñano & Gines Racing
29 Doni Tata Pradita 4.317 IND SUTER Federal Oil Gresini Moto2
30 Steven Odendaal 4.744 RSA SPEED UP Argiñano & Gines Racing
31 Rafid Topan Sucipto 8.215 IND SPEED UP QMMF Racing Team
32 Thomas Luthi NC SWI SUTER Interwetten Paddock Moto2

Championship standings

1 Pol Espargaro 25 pts ESP KALEX Tuenti HP 40
2 Scott Redding 20 pts GBR KALEX Marc VDS Racing Team
3 Takaaki Nakagima 16 pts JPN KALEX Italtrans Racing Team
4 Dominique Aegerter 13 pts SWI SUTER Technomag CarXpert
5 Mika Kallio 11 pts FIN KALEX Marc VDS Racing Team
6 Julian Simon 10 pts SPA KALEX Italtrans Racing Team
7 Simone Corsi 9 pts ITA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
8 Alex De Angelis 8 pts SMR SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
9 Esteve Rabat 7 pts ESP KALEX Tuenti HP 40
10 Xavier Simeon 6 pts GER KALEX Desguaces La Torre SAG/Zelos
11 Jordi Torres 5 pts ESP SUTER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2
12 Johann Zarco 4 pts FRA SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
13 Marcel Schrotter 3 pts GER KALEX Desguaces La Torre SAG/Zelos
14 Nicolas Terol 2 pts ESP SUTER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2
15 Toni Elias 1 pts SPA KALEX Blusen Avianta
16 Yuki Takahashi 0 pts JAP MORIWAKI Idemitsu Honda Team Asia
17 Steven Odendaal 0 pts RSA SPEED UP Argiñano & Gines Racing
18 Sergio Gadea 0 pts ESP SUTER Interwetten Paddock Moto2
19 Sandro Cortese 0 pts GER KALEX Dynavolt Intact GP
20 Ricard Cardus 0 pts SPA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Ratthapark Wilairot 0 pts THA SUTER Honda Gresini Moto2
22 Randy Krummenacher 0 pts SWI SUTER Technomag CarXpert
23 Rafid Topan Sucipto 0 pts IND SPEED UP QMMF Racing Team
24 Mike De Meglio 0 pts FRA MOTOBI JiR Moto2
25 Mattia Pasini 0 pts ITA SPEED UP NGM Mobile Forward Racing
26 Louis Rossi 0 pts FRA TECH 3 Tech 3 Racing
27 Kyle Smith 0 pts GBR KALEX Blusen Avianta
28 Doni Tata Pradita 0 pts IND SUTER Federal Oil Gresini Moto2
29 Danny Kent 0 pts GBR TECH 3 Tech 3 Racing
30 Axel Pons 0 pts SPA KALEX Tuenti HP 40
31 Anthony West 0 pts AUS SPEED UP QMMF Racing Team
32 Alberto Moncayo 0 pts ESP SPEED UP Argiñano & Gines Racing

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