125Motorcycles

Vinales On Pole After Crazy Qualifying Session At Assen

3 Mins read

Maverick Vinales claimed his second consecutive pole position in his maiden 125cc Grand Prix season after a drying track provided a dramatic conclusion to qualifying.

A rain shower five minutes in threw the session into chaos with very few riders having set a representative time. It left local rider Jasper Iwema staring at a dream pole position in front of his home crowd, with Simone Grotzkyj and Giulian Pedone completing an unlikely front row.

Iwema's prayers were not answered and with 15 minutes to go, Sergio Gadea got to within 0.067s off his pole time, triggering a mad dash onto the circuit as the 36 riders realised that pole position was up for grabs.

The first man to usurp Iwema's time was British rookie Harry Stafford who set a 1:50.721, over a second quicker than the Dutchman but Johann Zarco was clearly the man to watch, setting consecutive flying laps to get down to a 1:45.732, two second quicker than his nearest rival.

With five minutes remaining, Hector Faubel hit the front on the Aspar Aprilia but was quickly knocked off pole position by Efren Vazquez. The lap times changed frantically as the riders all went out on their final runs, with Faubel and Zarco each taking another turn at the top before Sandro Cortese went fastest, becoming the first rider to get into the 1:44s.

But Vinales beat the lot of them with just over a minute to go with a 1:44.597 to snatch pole from the German. Zarco, who was running nose-to-tail with the 16-year-old, got up to second on his final lap, demoting Cortese to third.

Faubel was forced to settle for fourth while Luis Salom and Efren Vazquez towed each other along to fifth and sixth respectively. Both were on personal bests though on their final efforts but seemed to hamper each other's laps.

Jonas Folger and Nicolas Terol will start further down the field than usual after both crashed during the session. Folger's accident came right at the start as the rain started to fall and did well even to get back out on track at all after a nasty looking fall at the final chicane.

Terol's nightmare day continued as he crashed his Aspar Aprilia for the second time in as many sessions. The championship leader was on target to challenge Vinales before crashing in the final minute and showed the after effects of his morning spill as he limped away.

Sergio Gadea completed the third row while two British riders will start from the fourth row. Danny Kent has been in around the top ten all weekend and that is exactly where he'll start tomorrow, while Danny Webb gave Mahindra their best qualifying result so far in 11th.

Stafford fell back from provisional pole to a still impressive 21st, while Taylor Mackenzie will start 25th. Jasper Iwema's dream turned to a nightmare after crashing as he tried to defend his earlier pole position and dropped to 33rd.

Qualifying Result:

 

 

Pos Rider Nat Team Lap Time Gap
1 Maverick Vinales SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 1:44.597
2 Johann Zarco FRA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 1:44.785 +0.188
3 Sandro Cortese GER Intact-Racing Team Germany 1:44.787 +0.190
4 Hector Faubel SPA Bankia Aspar Team 1:44.963 +0.366
5 Luis Salom SPA RW Racing GP 1:45.235 +0.638
6 Efren Vazquez SPA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 1:45.338 +0.741
7 Jonas Folger GER Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 1:45.859 +1.262
8 Nicolas Terol SPA Bankia Aspar Team 1:45.983 +1.386
9 Sergio Gadea SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 1:46.204 +1.607
10 Danny Kent GBR Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 1:46.568 +1.971
11 Danny Webb GBR Mahindra Racing 1:46.594 +1.997
12 Simone Grotzkyj ITA Phonica Racing 1:46.610 +2.013
13 Giulian Pedone SWI Phonica Racing 1:46.668 +2.071
14 Marcel Schrotter GER Mahindra Racing 1:46.819 +2.222
15 Luigi Morciano ITA Team Italia FMI 1:46.988 +2.391
16 Alexis Masbou FRA Caretta Technology 1:47.091 +2.494
17 Sturla Fagerhaug NOR WTR-Ten10 Racing 1:47.438 +2.841
18 Jakub Kornfeil CZE Ongetta-Centro-Seta 1:47.563 +2.966
19 Louis Rossi FRA Matteoni Racing 1:47.819 +3.222
20 Alberto Moncayo SPA Andalucía Banca Civica 1:47.973 +3.376
21 Harry Stafford GBR Ongetta-Centro-Seta 1:47.977 +3.380
22 Luca Gruenwald GER Freudenberg Racing Team 1:47.996 +3.399
23 Adrian Martin SPA Bankia Aspar Team 1:48.003 +3.406
24 Niklas Ajo FIN TT Motion Events Racing 1:48.351 +3.754
25 Taylor Mackenzie GBR Phonica Racing 1:48.883 +4.286
26 Bryan Schouten NED Dutch Racing Team 1:49.002 +4.405
27 Peter Sebestyen HUN Caretta Technology 1:49.118 +4.521
28 Alessandro Tonucci ITA Team Italia FMI 1:49.377 +4.780
29 Jerry van de Bunt NED Jerrys Racing Team 1:49.625 +5.028
30 Josep Rodriguez SPA Andalucía Banca Civica 1:49.760 +5.163
31 Joan Perello SPA Matteoni Racing 1:49.913 +5.316
32 Thomas van Leeuwen NED Racing Team Van Leeuwen 1:50.020 +5.423
33 Jasper Iwema NED Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal 1:51.856 +7.259
107% Time: 1:51.919
NQ Ernst Dubbink NED RV Racing Team 1:52.054 +7.457
NQ Francesco Mauriello ITA WTR-Ten10 Racing 1:57.548 +12.951
NQ Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL AirAsia-Sic-Ajo No Time
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