125cc MotoGP
Paris Hilton Racing Team’s Maverick Vinales set a time one second faster than his FP2 time of 1’44.597, putting him on pole for the 125cc MotoGP Assen, his second consecutive pole for the 2011 season in only his seventh World Championship start.
French rider Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) pushed hard in the last seconds to surpass the Spanish rookie but had to settle for second, with a time of 1’44.785, a tiny margin of 0.002 ahead of Intact Racing Team Germany rider Sandro Cortese.
Variable weather made for an intense 125cc qualifying session, with rain appearing in the first 10 minutes and sending all the riders back to the pits, but not before local rider Jasper Iwema (Ongetta-Abbink Metaal) set an early provisional pole which stood for the first half of the session.
As the track dried the lap times dropped, and a serious battle for the lead position began between the class heavyweights Zarco, Cortese, Viñales and Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar). Faubel set a time of 1’44.963, placing him at the front of row 2 for the start, followed 0.272s behind by Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) and Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) completing the second row.
Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) crashed out halfway through the qualifying session, his fastest lap placing him seventh on the grid, followed by Nicolás Terol (Bankia Aspar) who crashed on a hot lap, dashing his expectations of a front row start and placing him eighth. The Championship Terol leader crashed earlier in the morning session and fractured the fifth metacarpal of his right hand, in addition to injuring his right ankle.
Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) also crashed out of the session early after showing in the top three times, will start from ninth, with Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) leading row 4 in tenth position.
2011 125cc MotoGP: Assen Qualifying Results
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing | Aprilia | 215.2 | 1’44.597 | |
| 2. | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Avant-AirAsia-Ajo | Derbi | 211.1 | 1’44.785 | 0.188 / 0.188 |
| 3. | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Intact-Racing Team Germany | Aprilia | 208.2 | 1’44.787 | 0.190 / 0.002 |
| 4. | 55 | Hector FAUBEL | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | Aprilia | 211.7 | 1’44.963 | 0.366 / 0.176 |
| 5. | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | RW Racing GP | Aprilia | 215.4 | 1’45.235 | 0.638 / 0.272 |
| 6. | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | Avant-AirAsia-Ajo | Derbi | 213.3 | 1’45.338 | 0.741 / 0.103 |
| 7. | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | Red Bull Ajo MotorSport | Aprilia | 206.3 | 1’45.859 | 1.262 / 0.521 |
| 8. | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | Aprilia | 214.7 | 1’45.983 | 1.386 / 0.124 |
| 9. | 33 | Sergio GADEA | SPA | Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing | Aprilia | 206.7 | 1’46.204 | 1.607 / 0.221 |
| 10. | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Red Bull Ajo MotorSport | Aprilia | 206.2 | 1’46.568 | 1.971 / 0.364 |
| 11. | 99 | Danny WEBB | GBR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 205.4 | 1’46.594 | 1.997 / 0.026 |
| 12. | 15 | Simone GROTZKYJ | ITA | Phonica Racing | Aprilia | 209.2 | 1’46.610 | 2.013 / 0.016 |
| 13. | 30 | Giulian PEDONE | SWI | Phonica Racing | Aprilia | 202.4 | 1’46.668 | 2.071 / 0.058 |
| 14. | 77 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 210.4 | 1’46.819 | 2.222 / 0.151 |
| 15. | 3 | Luigi MORCIANO | ITA | Team Italia FMI | Aprilia | 205.6 | 1’46.988 | 2.391 / 0.169 |
| 16. | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Caretta Technology | KTM | 208.1 | 1’47.091 | 2.494 / 0.103 |
| 17. | 50 | Sturla FAGERHAUG | NOR | WTR-Ten10 Racing | Aprilia | 205.5 | 1’47.438 | 2.841 / 0.347 |
| 18. | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Ongetta-Centro Seta | Aprilia | 204.5 | 1’47.563 | 2.966 / 0.125 |
| 19. | 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Matteoni Racing | Aprilia | 205.1 | 1’47.819 | 3.222 / 0.256 |
| 20. | 23 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Andalucia Banca Civica | Aprilia | 207.0 | 1’47.973 | 3.376 / 0.154 |
| 21. | 21 | Harry STAFFORD | GBR | Ongetta-Centro Seta | Aprilia | 202.7 | 1’47.977 | 3.380 / 0.004 |
| 22. | 41 | Luca GRUENWALD | GER | Freudenberg Racing Team | KTM | 207.3 | 1’47.996 | 3.399 / 0.019 |
| 23. | 26 | Adrian MARTIN | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team 125cc | Aprilia | 207.5 | 1’48.003 | 3.406 / 0.007 |
| 24. | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | TT Motion Events Racing | Aprilia | 209.2 | 1’48.351 | 3.754 / 0.348 |
| 25. | 17 | Taylor MACKENZIE | GBR | Phonica Racing | Aprilia | 203.2 | 1’48.883 | 4.286 / 0.532 |
| 26. | 51 | Bryan SCHOUTEN | NED | Dutch Racing Team | Honda | 208.1 | 1’49.002 | 4.405 / 0.119 |
| 27. | 56 | Peter SEBESTYEN | HUN | Caretta Technology | KTM | 206.8 | 1’49.118 | 4.521 / 0.116 |
| 28. | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | Aprilia | 205.1 | 1’49.377 | 4.780 / 0.259 |
| 29. | 67 | Jerry VAN DE BUNT | NED | JerrysRacingTeam | Honda | 203.0 | 1’49.625 | 5.028 / 0.248 |
| 30. | 28 | Josep RODRIGUEZ | SPA | Andalucia Banca Civica | Aprilia | 205.3 | 1’49.760 | 5.163 / 0.135 |
| 31. | 36 | Joan PERELLO | SPA | Matteoni Racing | Aprilia | 195.3 | 1’49.913 | 5.316 / 0.153 |
| 32. | 75 | Thomas VAN LEEUWEN | NED | RacingTeam Van Leeuwen | Honda | 202.5 | 1’50.020 | 5.423 / 0.107 |
| 33. | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Ongetta-Abbink Metaal | Aprilia | 214.5 | 1’51.856 | 7.259 / 1.836 |
| 61 | Ernst DUBBINK | NED | RV Racing Team | Honda | 203.1 | 1’52.054 | 7.457 / 0.198 | |
| 43 | Francesco MAURIELLO | ITA | WTR-Ten10 Racing | Aprilia | 202.2 | 1’57.548 | 12.951 / 5.494 | |
| 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | Airasia-Sic-Ajo | Derbi |
