Espargaro Earns 1st Pole of 2013 Moto2 at Qatar

Tuenti HP 40 Pol Espargaro
Tuenti HP 40 Pol Espargaro
Tuenti HP 40 Pol Espargaro

2013 Qatar Moto2 Qualifying Results

Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro earned the first Moto2 pole position of 2013 under the floodlights at Losail International Circuit, coming back from a crash to deliver a remarkable final lap at the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar.

Joining Espargaro on the front row for Sunday’s Moto2 race will be Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami and Marc VDS Racing Team’s Mika Kallio.

Riders were challenged with much traffic and an extremely dusty track surface from the off. This was confirmed by an assortment of falls, not least for Espargaro himself who went down within the first five minutes. Adding to the early surprises, Nakagami, another pace-setter so far this weekend, was stuck in his garage with problems early on.

Amid the early dramas, the Marc VDS bike of Scott Redding headed the timesheets and appeared to be losing less ground on the start/finish straight than in previous sessions. He eventually settled for fourth place as Espargaró surprised many, including himself, to pick up a remarkable half a second in the final sector alone, sealing the top spot with 2’00.882. One and a half tenths cover the top three, with Nakagami, deprived of a career-first pole by just over a tenth, eventually managing 15 laps as Kallio improved his personal best in the last knockings.

Behind Redding, row two is completed by Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter and second Italtrans representative Julián Simón. Nico Terol will start seventh for the Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2, making up the third row with Tuenti’s Esteve Rabat and Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrotter. JiR Moto2’s Mike di Meglio was tenth, as less than a second covered the first 13 riders; that particular group was rounded out by reigning Moto3 Champion Sandro Cortese, who managed to re-join the session for Dynavolt Intact GP following an earlier highside from which he escaped unharmed.

Also falling during the 45 minutes were Interwetten Paddock’s Sergio Gadea, substituting for the injured Tom Lüthi, and NGM Mobile Racing’s Mattia Pasini.

2013 Qatar Moto2 Qualifying Results:

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 40 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex 274.1 2’00.882
2 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 270.9 2’01.014 0.132 / 0.132
3 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 272.8 2’01.041 0.159 / 0.027
4 45 Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 273.6 2’01.089 0.207 / 0.048
5 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 277.4 2’01.120 0.238 / 0.031
6 60 Julian SIMON SPA Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 273.1 2’01.447 0.565 / 0.327
7 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 269.1 2’01.454 0.572 / 0.007
8 80 Esteve RABAT SPA Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex 271.5 2’01.462 0.580 / 0.008
9 23 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Desguaces La Torre SAG Kalex 273.9 2’01.541 0.659 / 0.079
10 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Jir Moto2 Motobi 281.7 2’01.573 0.691 / 0.032
11 3 Simone CORSI ITA NGM Mobile Racing Speed Up 280.5 2’01.619 0.737 / 0.046
12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM NGM Mobile Forward Racing Speed Up 274.6 2’01.647 0.765 / 0.028
13 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex 271.0 2’01.841 0.959 / 0.194
14 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Came Iodaracing Project Suter 273.6 2’01.885 1.003 / 0.044
15 95 Anthony WEST AUS QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 274.1 2’01.944 1.062 / 0.059
16 81 Jordi TORRES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 266.1 2’02.001 1.119 / 0.057
17 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Desguaces La Torre Maptaq Kalex 270.5 2’02.125 1.243 / 0.124
18 88 Ricard CARDUS SPA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Speed Up 274.8 2’02.266 1.384 / 0.141
19 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 Suter 272.0 2’02.335 1.453 / 0.069
20 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Blusens Avintia Kalex 274.5 2’02.403 1.521 / 0.068
21 49 Axel PONS SPA Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex 274.5 2’02.432 1.550 / 0.029
22 96 Louis ROSSI FRA Tech 3 Tech 3 272.1 2’02.607 1.725 / 0.175
23 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Moriwaki 265.8 2’02.800 1.918 / 0.193
24 4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 272.6 2’02.908 2.026 / 0.108
25 54 Mattia PASINI ITA NGM Mobile Racing Speed Up 277.7 2’03.006 2.124 / 0.098
26 52 Danny KENT GBR Tech 3 Tech 3 269.1 2’03.039 2.157 / 0.033
27 7 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Suter 266.7 2’04.177 3.295 / 1.138
28 9 Kyle SMITH GBR Blusens Avintia Kalex 271.1 2’04.436 3.554 / 0.259
29 44 Steven ODENDAAL RSA Argiñano & Gines Racing Speed Up 268.9 2’04.657 3.775 / 0.221
30 97 Rafid Topan SUCIPTO INA QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 267.7 2’04.731 3.849 / 0.074
31 17 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Argiñano & Gines Racing Speed Up 272.3 2’04.873 3.991 / 0.142
32 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Interwetten Paddock Suter 272.1 2’05.869 4.987 / 0.996

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