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Terol Heads Aspar 1-2 in Qualifying at Le Mans

2 Mins read

Nicolas Terol saw off the challenge of teammate Hector Faubel to take pole position for the 125cc French Grand Prix.

After filling three of the top four positions in morning practice, the Bankia Aspar team dominated the qualifying session, with Terol three quarters of a second ahead of third placed Maverick Vinales.

The 16-year-old rookie impressed throughout the qualifying session and held provisional pole at the halfway mark with a time of 1:44.315.

Terol became the first rider to get into the 1:43s, going nearly four tenths quicker and Faubel all but matched him to move onto the middle of the front row. None of the top three found any more time until the final two minutes when Terol re-emerged to defend pole position from Faubel. The championship leader produced two personal best laps, the second of which gave him a 0.389s advantage over his teammate.

Blusens by Paris Hilton rider Vinales held on to the third spot on the front row, although that was largely down to an error by Sandro Cortese. The German crashed his Aprilia with a couple of minutes remaining, meaning he will start off the front row for the first time this year.

Jonas Folger starts fifth for Red Bull Ajo Motorsport while Johann Zarco will start his home grand prix on the second row. The 20-year-old was second fastest in the final free practice session but set a slower time in qualifying and will have to make do with sixth.

Adrian Martin completed a wonderful day for Bankia Aspar with his career best qualifying in seventh. The Spaniard will be joined by two of his fellow countrymen, with Sergio Gadea and Efren Vazquez likely to be disappointed with eighth and ninth.

Miguel Oliveira qualified on the front row for his home grand prix two weeks ago but couldn't match those heroics this time. The Portuguese teenager crashed early in the session and despite recovering, could do no better than 12th.

Danny Kent was the top Briton in qualifying in 18th while Danny Webb will start in the middle of the seventh row after qualifying 20th. The Mahindra squad have had problems with the updated GP 125 throughout the weekend and they continued on Saturday afternoon.

The British quarter are all going to be targeting points tomorrow, with Harry Stafford two places further back in 22nd, Taylor Mackenzie is 26th after enjoying a much more straight forward qualifying session than he had at Estoril.

Pos Rider Team Lap Time Gap
1 Nicolas Terol Bankia Aspar Team 1:43.578  
2 Hector Faubel Bankia Aspar Team 1:43.967 +0.389
3 Maverick Vinales Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 1:44.315 +0.737
4 Sandro Cortese Intact-Racing Team Germany 1:44.355 +0.777
5 Jonas Folger Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 1:44.497 +0.919
6 Johann Zarco Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 1:44.592 +1.014
7 Adrian Martin Bankia Aspar Team 1:44.726 +1.148
8 Sergio Gadea Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 1:44.755 +1.177
9 Efren Vazquez Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 1:44.776 +1.198
10 Luis Salom RW Racing GP 1:45.347 +1.769
11 Simone Grotzkyj Phonica Racing 1:45.423 +1.845
12 Miguel Oliveira Andalucía Banca Civica 1:45.593 +2.015
13 Zulfahmi Khairuddin AirAsia-Sic-Ajo 1:45.629 +2.051
14 Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta-Centro-Seta 1:45.682 +2.104
15 Alberto Moncayo Andalucía Banca Civica 1:45.697 +2.119
16 Jasper Iwema Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal 1:45.720 +2.142
17 Louis Rossi Matteoni Racing 1:45.746 +2.168
18 Danny Kent Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 1:45.965 +2.387
19 Alexis Masbou WTR-Ten10 Racing 1:46.230 +2.652
20 Danny Webb Mahindra Racing 1:46.381 +2.803
21 Luigi Morciano Team Italia FMI 1:46.473 +2.895
22 Harry Stafford Ongetta-Centro-Seta 1:46.477 +2.899
23 Hiroki Ono Caretta Technology 1:46.531 +2.953
24 Marcel Schrotter Mahindra Racing 1:47.364 +3.786
25 Francesco Mauriello WTR-Ten10 Racing 1:47.533 +3.955
26 Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Racing 1:47.540 +3.962
27 Niklas Ajo TT Motion Events Racing 1:47.563 +3.985
28 Giulian Pedone Phonica Racing 1:48.027 +4.449
29 Peter Sebestyen Caretta Technology 1:48.127 +4.549
30 Kevin Szalai Maxiscoot MVT Racing 1:48.607 +5.029
31 Alessandro Tonucci Team Italia FMI 1:48.825 +5.247
32 Joan Perello Matteoni Racing 1:48.987 +5.409
33 Kevin Thobois Team RMS 1:50.591 +7.013
107% Time: 1:50.828
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