Moto2 Mugello: Qualifying

Moto2 Report

Moto2 continues to throw up surprises, with Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) scoring his first pole position in the class at Mugello this afternoon. The Italian’s previous best qualifying performance in Moto2 was 14th at Le Mans two weeks ago.

Moto2 is so close and competitive that there is very little difference to being fastest and being way down the qualifying order. At Le Mans the grid was the closest in GP history, with less than a second separating the fastest 27 qualifier. Here the top 18 men are covered by just 1.067s.

Iannone, three times a pole sitter in 125cc, was impressive in front of his home crowd, lapping more than a quarter of a second faster than anyone else, a big gap in the frantically close world of Moto2. Iannone’s crew had to work hard following a difficult morning session to fine tune his machine for the qualifying outing.

Points leader Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) also had to fight set-up issues, having completed the two free practice sessions 21st fastest. But his Gresini crew worked miracles for qualifying and the Spaniard was able to move up to the front row on his very last lap of the session, though he still needs to work to improve his race pace. He ended the day three tenths up on Alex De Angelis (RSM Team Scot, Force GP210). De Angelis has had a luckless and so far point-less start to Moto2, but the San Marinese hopes to turn that luck around this weekend.

Last man on the front row is Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter) who has already enjoyed podium success in Moto2 – at the Qatar GP – but crashed out of the recent French round while battling for the win in front of his home crowd.

Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP, Suter), winner of the historic Qatar round, was fifth quickest, missing out on a front-row start by a slender 0.012 seconds. To underline the closeness of the competition, Tomizawa’s fastest lap was exactly the same as that of Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons, Pons Kalex).

MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES

Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up: pole position at 1m 55.598s, said:
"I am delighted because my fastest lap was a really good lap. This morning we had a few difficulties with the bike but we were able to solve them thanks to the good work of the team. The bike was much better in qualifying and that helped me to do that lap. Tomorrow there will be other problems – most likely Toni and Alex! It will be a difficult race, especially if we end up fighting in a big group. My aim is to get a good start and to try and go ahead on my own, but this will not be easy. I send my best wishes to Valentino [Rossi] for a speedy recovery from his injuries."

Toni Elias, Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki: 2nd at 1m 55.858s, said:
"It’s been a difficult weekend so far. We’ve struggled with the balance of the bike, especially in the faster sections of the track. We have some ideas to improve things but we didn’t want to risk trying them in qualifying, so we will see how they work in warm-up. We need to find half a second more of race pace, so we will see. The good thing is that I have a good grid position. I expect lots of fighting in the race."

Alex De Angelis, RSM Team Scot, Force GP210: 3rd at 1m 56.222, said:
"We’ve already had quite a bit of bad luck so far this season and we had some more today. Just before we put in my final soft tyre we had some issues with the brakes. That still bothered me on my final run but I was able to be quite fast, which makes me happy and quite confident."

Jules Cluzel, Forward Racing, Suter: 4th at 1m 56.272s, said:
"I am very happy to make the front row because we had some problems in qualifying practice. We had a problem with the clutch, so my crew had to work very hard to get the bike fixed. Then right at the end of the session, on my best lap, I had to pass three riders. I hope we can make a good race."

Pole position : 1m55.598s (163.341Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up
Circuit Best Lap : 1m55.598s (163.341Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up