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Five Poles In a Row For Blistering Bradl

3 Mins read

Stefan Bradl's 100% qualifying record continued as he took his fifth pole position out of five in this year's Moto2 World Championship.

After admitting to struggling during practice, and taking a trip through the gravel during qualifying, the series leader delivered when it mattered most with a time of 1:46.753, the fastest ever Moto2 lap of the Circuit de Catalunya. That gave him just a tenth of a second in hand over Aleix Espargaro who qualified on the front row of a Grand Prix for the first time in three years.

Yuki Takahashi didn't feature at the top of the timesheets at all during qualifying but suddenly came to life in the final minute to claim the final place on the front row. That is a place that Thomas Luthi has started from at ever Grand Prix so far this year, but his run was brought to an end by the Gresini rider who demoted him to fourth.

Marc Marquez had problems negotiating traffic in the final minutes and ran on at the first corner on his final effort in an attempt to find space. His hopes were dashed but he had already set a time good enough for fifth.

Rounding out the second row will be the impressive Bradley Smith, but things could have been even better for the Tech 3 star. Smith was second fastest in morning practice and was in exactly the same position at the halfway stage of this afternoon's session.

But entering the final corner on his latest flying lap, the Briton lost the front end of the Mistral 610 in spectacular fashion and was sent careering through the gravel trap. Smith was thankfully unhurt but his bike was too badly damaged to continue.

Mika Kallio was seventh in what was easily his best qualifying session of the season. The Finn, who has two years of MotoGP experience behind him, has struggled to get to grips with the two-stroke machinery but seems to have turned the corner this weekend.

Julian Simon ended up a frustrated eighth, after promising more in practice, and will start just ahead of Esteve Rabat who was the surprise package in the top ten, a line up that is completed by Frenchman Jules Cluzel.

Scott Redding was another rider who will have hoped for better after showing potential pole position in free practice. The Briton was out qualified by his teammate Mika Kallio for the first time and if he is to challenge for a podium finish, he will have to do so from eleventh on the grid.

Andrea Iannone will have to come from even further back after a crash at the beginning of the session put him on his back foot. The Italian lost control of his Suter at turn four and didn't set a representative time until the closing minutes, eventually taking 22nd place.

Scottish rider Kev Coghlan was just 1.878s away from pole position pace but with the closeness of the field, he will start from the eleventh row in 33rd.

 

Qualifying Result:

 Pos Rider Nat Team Lap Time Gap
1 Stefan Bradl GER Viessman Kiefer Racing 1:46.753
2 Aleix Espargaro SPA Pons HP 40 1:46.867 +0.114
3 Yuki Takahashi JAP Gresini Racing Moto2 1:46.978 +0.225
4 Thomas Luthi SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 1:47.068 +0.315
5 Marc Marquez SPA Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol 1:47.154 +0.401
6 Bradley Smith GBR Tech 3 Racing 1:47.207 +0.454
7 Mika Kallio FIN Marc VDS Racing Team 1:47.226 +0.473
8 Julian Simon SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 1:47.355 +0.602
9 Esteve Rabat SPA Blusens-STX 1:47.426 +0.673
10 Jules Cluzel FRA Forward Racing 1:47.456 +0.703
11 Scott Redding GBR Marc VDS Racing Team 1:47.527 +0.774
12 Dominique Aegerter SWI Technomag-CIP 1:47.558 +0.805
13 Javier Fores SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 1:47.741 +0.988
14 Michele Pirro ITA Gresini Racing Moto2 1:47.765 +1.012
15 Simone Corsi ITA Ioda Racing Project 1:47.781 +1.028
16 Axel Pons SPA Pons HP 40 1:47.817 +1.064
17 Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Technomag-CIP 1:47.846 +1.093
18 Claudio Corti ITA Italtrans Racing Team 1:47.861 +1.108
19 Randy Krummenacher SWI GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing 1:47.937 +1.184
20 Alex de Angelis RSM JIR Moto2 1:47.954 +1.201
21 Yonny Hernandez COL Blusens-STX 1:47.988 +1.235
22 Andrea Iannone ITA Speed Master 1:48.005 +1.252
23 Carmelo Morales SPA Desguaces La Torre G22 1:48.068 +1.315
24 Max Neukirchner GER MZ Racing Team 1:48.081 +1.328
25 Pol Espargaro SPA HP Tuenti Speed Up 1:48.087 +1.334
26 Valentin Debise FRA Speed Up 1:48.156 +1.403
27 Alex Baldolini ITA Forward Racing 1:48.179 +1.426
28 Robertino Pietri VEN Italtrans Racing Team 1:48.213 +1.460
29 Ratthapark Wilairot THA Thai Honda Singha SAG 1:48.234 +1.481
30 Mike Di Meglio FRA Tech 3 Racing 1:48.282 +1.529
31 Xavier Simeon BEL Tech 3 B 1:48.331 +1.578
32 Anthony West AUS MZ Racing Team 1:48.487 +1.734
33 Kev Coghlan GBR Aeroport de Castello 1:48.631 +1.878
34 Mattia Pasini ITA Ioda Racing Project 1:48.755 +2.002
35 Santiago Hernandez COL SAG Team 1:48.841 +2.088
36 Kenny Noyes USA Avintia-STX 1:49.048 +2.295
37 Mashel Al Naimi QAT QMMF Racing Team 1:49.926 +3.173
107% Time: 1:54.225
NQ Ricard Cardus SPA QMMF Racing Team No Time
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