2011 Motegi Moto2: Marquez on Pole

2011 Moto2

The final three quarters of the Moto2 qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Japan saw a battle for pole ensue between Interwetten Paddock Moto2 rider Thomas Lüthi and Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez, with the Spanish rider stepping into the top spot by a margin of just under two-tenths of a second with a time of 1’52.067.

The 18-year-old Moto2 rookie Marquez nearly crashed during a fast lap but pulled off an impressive save to avoid going down.

Andrea Iannone is sure to be a contender in Sunday’s race, the 22 year-old Speed Master rider taking the third spot on the grid with a best lap three-tenths off the pole position time. Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing), who had a moment but controlled the near crash, was two-tenths off the Italian in fourth, with last year’s sixth place finisher Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) and Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) joining the British rider on row two.

Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), who finished fourth at Motegi last year, leads row three ahead of Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP). Mattia Pasini (Ioda Racing Project) completed the top ten, ahead of Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing).

Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) had an early crash coming onto the start-finish straight and was fortunate not to be hit by an alert Kenny Noyes. The Spaniard returned later in the session to qualify 21st. Sergio Gadea (Desguaces La Torre G22) and Randy Krummenacher (GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing) also both went down in separate incidents and did not finish the session.

2011 Motegi Moto2: Qualifying Results

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter 259.2 1’52.067  
2. 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 260.9 1’52.260 0.193 / 0.193
3. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Suter 259.6 1’52.423 0.356 / 0.163
4. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 254.3 1’52.645 0.578 / 0.222
5. 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 257.9 1’52.694 0.627 / 0.049
6. 3 Simone CORSI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 256.2 1’52.696 0.629 / 0.002
7. 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM JIR Moto2 Motobi 258.4 1’52.763 0.696 / 0.067
8. 65 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Kalex 260.2 1’52.789 0.722 / 0.026
9. 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 257.8 1’52.799 0.732 / 0.010
10. 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 255.8 1’52.853 0.786 / 0.054
11. 18 Jordi TORRES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 254.2 1’52.949 0.882 / 0.096
12. 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 258.7 1’53.082 1.015 / 0.133
13. 40 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 257.8 1’53.135 1.068 / 0.053
14. 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 253.8 1’53.172 1.105 / 0.037
15. 45 Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 252.9 1’53.201 1.134 / 0.029
16. 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Tech 3 B Tech 3 252.0 1’53.210 1.143 / 0.009
17. 34 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX FTR 258.2 1’53.274 1.207 / 0.064
18. 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 256.0 1’53.291 1.224 / 0.017
19. 54 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Technomag-CIP Suter 256.7 1’53.376 1.309 / 0.085
20. 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA NGM Forward Racing Suter 253.0 1’53.430 1.363 / 0.054
21. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA HP Tuenti Speed Up FTR 257.9 1’53.532 1.465 / 0.102
22. 88 Ricard CARDUS SPA QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 253.1 1’53.638 1.571 / 0.106
23. 13 Anthony WEST AUS MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 257.6 1’53.715 1.648 / 0.077
24. 80 Axel PONS SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 259.4 1’53.755 1.688 / 0.040
25. 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 254.2 1’53.779 1.712 / 0.024
26. 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda Singha SAG FTR 253.5 1’53.818 1.751 / 0.039
27. 16 Jules CLUZEL FRA NGM Forward Racing Suter 258.3 1’53.820 1.753 / 0.002
28. 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Blusens-STX FTR 256.5 1’53.966 1.899 / 0.146
29. 76 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 253.4 1’53.969 1.902 / 0.003
30. 9 Kenny NOYES USA Avintia-STX FTR 255.9 1’54.161 2.094 / 0.192
31. 53 Valentin DEBISE FRA Speed Up FTR 255.6 1’54.341 2.274 / 0.180
32. 64 Santiago HERNANDEZ COL SAG Team FTR 255.0 1’54.375 2.308 / 0.034
33. 7 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN CIP with TSR TSR 6 257.8 1’54.441 2.374 / 0.066
34. 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Aeroport de Castello FTR 254.2 1’54.740 2.673 / 0.299
35. 95 Mashel AL NAIMI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 255.1 1’54.744 2.677 / 0.004
36. 39 Robertino PIETRI VEN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 251.1 1’54.911 2.844 / 0.167
37. 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Desguaces La Torre G22 Moriwaki 251.8 1’55.558 3.491 / 0.647
  4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing Kalex      

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