Hector Faubel sprung a surprise in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Aragon by snatching pole position in the dying seconds, upstaging the championship contenders who were expected to lock out the front row.
Series leaders Nicolas Terol, Johann Zarco and Maverick Vinales each topped a practice session over the course of the weekend and seemed to have the legs on everybody else this afternoon too.
Terol and Zarco traded fastest times on their opening attempts with the Spaniard getting down to a 2:00.159, establishing a lead of 0.406s. After a spell in the garage, Zarco re-emerged to cut the gap to less than a tenth but Terol quickly moved the goalposts again, matching the fastest time of the weekend he'd set yesterday.
With a lead of three quarters of a second, Terol looked to have stamped his authority on the session but Vinales brought himself into contention, taking second with a quarter of an hour to go. Zarco was the next to make gains, splitting the Spaniards on the front row before British rookie Danny Kent soared up the order to take third.
On his final set of tyres, Terol improved again to a 1:59.365, the fastest lap of the weekend before Vinales jumped back onto the front row, breaking the outright lap record in the process. Terol was forced to admit defeat, settling for second place but his teammate was flying behind him, setting the fastest time in sectors two and three.
The Aspar Aprilia has proven very potent indeed on the near 968m back-straight and Faubel needed all the power his RSA machine had to offer, pipping Vinales to pole by 0.009s. Vinales and Terol complete an all-Spanish front row and the points leader will be especially pleased to see his main rival back on row two.
Zarco will have Danny Kent alongside him as the Briton produced another career-best qualifying performance. Luis Salom will round out the second row after a late slipstream helped him up to sixth.
Sandro Cortese was a surprisingly poor seventh ahead of Alberto Moncayo while Efren Vazquez will start down in ninth, giving him little chance to help his teammate against the Aspar duo tomorrow.
Jonas Folger will start tenth on the second Red Bull Ajo Aprilia but Zulfahmi Khairuddin could only manage 31st for the sister AirAsia-Sic-Ajo squad after a nasty high-sided brought his session to an early end.
Qualifying Result:
Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hector Faubel | SPA | Aprilia | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | 1:59.222 |
2 | Maverick Vinales | SPA | Aprilia | Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing | +0.009 |
3 | Nicolas Terol | SPA | Aprilia | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | +0.143 |
4 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Derbi | Avant-AirAsia-Ajo | +0.376 |
5 | Danny Kent | GBR | Aprilia | Red Bull Ajo MotorSport | +0.592 |
6 | Luis Salom | SPA | Aprilia | RW Racing GP | +0.680 |
7 | Sandro Cortese | GER | Aprilia | Intact-Racing Team Germany | +0.789 |
8 | Alberto Moncayo | SPA | Aprilia | AndalucÃa Banca Civica | +1.094 |
9 | Efren Vazquez | SPA | Derbi | Avant-AirAsia-Ajo | +1.210 |
10 | Jonas Folger | GER | Aprilia | Red Bull Ajo MotorSport | +1.225 |
11 | Adrian Martin | SPA | Aprilia | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | +1.475 |
12 | Josep Rodriguez | SPA | Aprilia | Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing | +1.498 |
13 | Louis Rossi | FRA | Aprilia | Matteoni Racing | +1.564 |
14 | Jakub Kornfeil | CZE | Aprilia | Ongetta-Centro-Seta | +1.623 |
15 | Marcel Schrotter | GER | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +1.631 |
16 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Aprilia | AndalucÃa Banca Civica | +1.896 |
17 | Jasper Iwema | NED | Aprilia | Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal | +2.270 |
18 | Niklas Ajo | FIN | Aprilia | TT Motion Events Racing | +2.282 |
19 | Luigi Morciano | ITA | Aprilia | Team Italia FMI | +2.842 |
20 | Alexis Masbou | FRA | KTM | Caretta Technology | +2.860 |
21 | Harry Stafford | GBR | Aprilia | Ongetta-Centro-Seta | +2.897 |
22 | Alessandro Tonucci | ITA | Aprilia | Team Italia FMI | +3.153 |
23 | Danny Webb | GBR | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +3.178 |
24 | Giulian Pedone | SWI | Aprilia | Phonica Racing | +3.574 |
25 | Francesco Mauriello | ITA | Aprilia | WTR-Ten10 Racing | +3.659 |
26 | Sturla Fagerhaug | NOR | Aprilia | WTR-Ten10 Racing | +3.741 |
27 | Manuel Tatasciore | ITA | Aprilia | Phonica Racing | +3.931 |
28 | Taylor Mackenzie | GBR | Aprilia | Phonica Racing | +4.062 |
29 | Joan Perello | SPA | Aprilia | Matteoni Racing | +4.788 |
30 | Kevin Hanus (WC) | GER | Honda | Team Hanusch | +5.431 |
31 | Zulfahmi Khairuddin | MAL | Derbi | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +5.432 |
32 | Pedro Rodriguez (WC) | SPA | Aprilia | Turismo de Aragon – DVJ | +5.664 |
33 | Damien Raemy (WC) | SWI | KTM | Caretta Technology | +5.704 |
107% Qualifying Time: 2:07.568 |