Moto2 Qualifying
Moto2 underlined its reputation for unpredictability once again today, with former 600 World Superstock Champion and 1000 Superstock star Claudio Corti (Forward Racing, Suter) scoring his first pole position in the new Honda-powered World Championship.
Meanwhile points leader and double race winner Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) struggled badly, qualifying only 18th fastest. Qatar winner Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP, Suter) also had an off day, crashing at speed this morning and qualifying 11th.
Italian Corti – whose only Moto2 points-scoring position so far is 15th at Le Mans – rode impressively this afternoon to claim pole by a significant 0.413 second advantage over team-mate Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter).
Qatar podium man Cluzel has a straightforward aim for tomorrow – to finish and score some points following his race crashes at Le Mans and Mugello.
Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing, Suter) is back on the front row for the first time since Qatar, where his qualifying performance was spoiled when a rival took him out on the first lap of the race.
Two weeks after struggling to ninth at Mugello, reigning 125 World Champion Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) took the final place on the front row and will be aiming to repeat his rousing ride to a podium finish at Le Mans
Former Colombian Supermotard Champion Yonny Hernandez (Blusens-STX, BQR) heads the second row after qualifying fifth, his sideways style working well on the bumpy Silverstone surface.
Rookie Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) qualified 20th for the 125 Grand Prix after slicing two seconds off his free practice times. The 17-year-old German is feeling confident for the race, knowing full well that he will need an excellent start if he’s to score more points tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s race schedule is different from the usual Continental programme due to the British time difference. For the first time the Moto2 race will start the day at 11.15 (local time), followed by MotoGP at 13.00 and 125s at 14.30.
MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES
Claudio Corti says: “I keep thinking that this is a dream – maybe I will wake up now! I like this track and I remember some of it from when I raced in the Superstock Championship here, but the track has changed a lot since then, so I only know a few of the corners. Anyway, I’m fast and my race pace is good. It will be a tough race, like they always are in Moto2. This is a difficult championship because we all have the same engine spec, so it is very tough to find any advantage.”
Jules Cluzel says: “I’m very happy with this performance, especially because we come here after crashing out of the last two races in France and Italy. The team has worked well here, but we have more work to do to make the bike easier to ride over race distance. The big thing is that I need to finish here – I don’t need to get another podium, I just need to score some points.”
Stefan Bradl says: “This has been a difficult track for me, it’s not easy to learn. Yesterday afternoon and this morning weren’t easy sessions, but finally we found something in the bike setting for qualifying and I was able to improve a lot, so I have to say thank you to my mechanics for their great work. I am looking forward to the race.”
Julian Simon says: “I’m very happy. Yesterday’s first session was wet which was a problem considering that this is a new circuit for all of us. Then this morning didn’t go well for me either, but finally in qualifying I was able to push much harder and finally I was able to make the front row. My mechanics pushed very hard to give me a good setting, so I was able to run a good pace, and I am sure I can ride a good race tomorrow.”
Pole position : 2m09.624s (163.914Km/h) Claudio Corti, Forward Racing
Circuit Best Lap : 2m09.624s (163.914Km/h) Claudio Corti, Forward Racing
Moto2 Qualifying Positions
1 Claudio Corti 2m09.624s ITA HONDA Forward Racing
2 Jules Cluzel +0.413s FRA HONDA Forward Racing
3 Stefan Bradl +0.789s GER HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
4 Julian Simon +0.795s SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
5 Yonny Hernandez +0.851s COL HONDA Blusens-STX
6 Xavier Simeon +0.868s BEL HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
7 Alex Baldolini +0.954s ITA HONDA Caretta Technology Race Dept
8 Arne Tode +1.010s GER HONDA Racing Team Germany
9 Thomas Luthi +1.030s SWI HONDA Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2
10 Fonsi Nieto +1.044s SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
11 Shoya Tomizawa +1.064s JPN HONDA Technomag-CIP
12 Scott Redding +1.144s GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
13 Dominique Aegerter +1.149s SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
14 Karel Abraham +1.178s CZE HONDA Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Simone Corsi +1.197s ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
16 Andrea Iannone +1.222s ITA HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
17 Alex Debon +1.240s SPA HONDA Aeroport de Castello – Ajo
18 Toni Elias +1.426s SPA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
19 Gabor Talmacsi +1.553s HUN HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
20 Axel Pons +1.566s SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
21 Mattia Pasini +1.588s ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
22 Sergio Gadea +1.597s SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
23 Kenny Noyes +1.786s USA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
24 Ratthapark Wilairot +1.797s THA HONDA Thai Honda PTT SAG
25 Lukas Pesek +1.833s CZE HONDA Matteoni C.P. Racing
26 Niccolo Canepa +1.837s ITA HONDA RSM Team Scot
27 Roberto Rolfo +1.913s ITA HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
28 Bernat Martinez +1.989s SPA HONDA Maquinza-SAG Team
29 Robertino Pietri +2.060s VEN HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
30 Kev Coghlan +2.070s SCO HONDA Monlan Joey Darcey Team
31 Mike De Meglio +2.191s FRA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
32 Hector Faubel +2.324s SPA HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
33 Anthony West +2.428s AUS HONDA MZ Racing
34 Vladimir Ivanov +2.543s RUS HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
35 Joan Olive +2.716s SPA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
36 Raffaele De Rosa +2.736s ITA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
37 Anthony Delhalle +2.878s FRA HONDA Qatar Endurance Racing Team
38 Yuki Takahashi +2.944s JAP HONDA Tech 3 Racing
39 Valentin Debise +3.482s FRA HONDA WTR San Marino Team
Moto2 Championship Standings
1 Toni Elias 74 pts SPA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
2 Shoya Tomizawa 55 pts JPN HONDA Technomag-CIP
3 Simone Corsi 51 pts ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
4 Sergio Gadea 46 pts SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
5 Thomas Luthi 38 pts SWI HONDA Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2
6 Andrea Iannone 38 pts ITA HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
7 Julian Simon 35 pts SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
8 Gabor Talmacsi 34 pts HUN HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
9 Alex Debon 26 pts SPA HONDA Aeroport de Castello – Ajo
10 Yuki Takahashi 21 pts JAP HONDA Tech 3 Racing
11 Roberto Rolfo 21 pts ITA HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
12 Jules Cluzel 21 pts FRA HONDA Forward Racing
13 Fonsi Nieto 12 pts SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
14 Stefan Bradl 11 pts GER HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
15 Yonny Hernandez 10 pts COL HONDA Blusens-STX
16 Mattia Pasini 10 pts ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
17 Ratthapark Wilairot 9 pts THA HONDA Thai Honda PTT SAG
18 Kenny Noyes 9 pts USA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
19 Alex Baldolini 9 pts ITA HONDA Caretta Technology Race Dept
20 Dominique Aegerter 8 pts SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
21 Scott Redding 5 pts GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
22 Alex De Angelis 5 pts SMR HONDA RSM Team Scot
23 Lukas Pesek 4 pts CZE HONDA Matteoni C.P. Racing
24 Hector Faubel 4 pts SPA HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
25 Karel Abraham 2 pts CZE HONDA Cardion AB Motoracing
26 Claudio Corti 1 pts ITA HONDA Forward Racing
27 Anthony West 1 pts AUS HONDA MZ Racing
28 Yannick Guerra 0 pts SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
29 Xavier Simeon 0 pts BEL HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
30 Vladimir Leonov 0 pts RUS HONDA Vector Kiefer Racing
31 Vladimir Ivanov 0 pts RUS HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
32 Valentin Debise 0 pts FRA HONDA WTR San Marino Team
33 Robertino Pietri 0 pts VEN HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
34 Raffaele De Rosa 0 pts ITA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
35 Niccolo Canepa 0 pts ITA HONDA RSM Team Scot
36 Mike De Meglio 0 pts FRA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
37 Mashel Al Naimi 0 pts QAT HONDA Blusens-STX
38 Joan Olive 0 pts SPA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
39 Ivan Moreno 0 pts SPA HONDA Andalucia Cajasol
40 Bernat Martinez 0 pts SPA HONDA Maquinza-SAG Team
41 Axel Pons 0 pts SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
42 Arne Tode 0 pts GER HONDA Racing Team Germany
43 Anthony Delhalle 0 pts FRA HONDA Qatar Endurance Racing Team
44 Amadeo Llados 0 pts SPA HONDA Llados Racing Team
