2012 Moto2 Championship
During an incident-packed qualifying at the Iveco TT Assen in the Moto2 class, it was Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez who took pole position in front of Pol Espargaró and Andrea Iannone.
Márquez, who had played second fiddle to Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Espargaró for all of the preceding practices, pulled a lap of 1.37:133 out of the bag to snatch pole, despite ending up in the gravel at the end of the session. Espargaró finished just over four-tenths behind his rival, yet managed to keep Speed Master’s Iannone at bay a further three and a half tenths down.
GP Team Switzerland’s Randy Krummenacher nearly caused a front-row upset, yet had to settle for a very credible fourth instead. Compatriot Dominique Aegerter, on board his Technomag-CIP machine, lines up next to him in fifth, after finding some impressive form at the Dutch track. Completing the second row is Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi with his FTR bike, as he looks to get onto the podium for the first time this season.
Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding had a disappointing qualifying for his standards, ending down in seventh, ahead of Tech 3 Racing’s fellow countryman Bradley Smith on his Mistral 610. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis made it two FTR bikes in the top ten with a solid display, ahead of Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi, who will no doubt look to improve in tomorrow’s race.
There was drama early on as QMMF Racing Team teammates Elena Rosell and Anthony West crashed, as the female Spanish rider tried to avoid West as he slid off track. Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón following suit shortly after, and with 35 minutes left of the session, JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco had his second crash of the day, with Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti and Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner also crashing out in the latter stages of qualifying. None of the riders were seriously hurt in the incidents.
2012 Assen Moto2 Qualifying Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol | Suter | 252.6 | 1’37.133 | |
| 2. | 40 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 250.8 | 1’37.588 | 0.455 / 0.455 |
| 3. | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Speed Master | Speed Up | 248.6 | 1’37.956 | 0.823 / 0.368 |
| 4. | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | SWI | GP Team Switzerland | Kalex | 252.9 | 1’38.279 | 1.146 / 0.323 |
| 5. | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 250.2 | 1’38.349 | 1.216 / 0.070 |
| 6. | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | FTR | 253.8 | 1’38.400 | 1.267 / 0.051 |
| 7. | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 252.6 | 1’38.401 | 1.268 / 0.001 |
| 8. | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 248.2 | 1’38.414 | 1.281 / 0.013 |
| 9. | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 250.8 | 1’38.483 | 1.350 / 0.069 |
| 10. | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Interwetten-Paddock | Suter | 253.1 | 1’38.488 | 1.355 / 0.005 |
| 11. | 80 | Esteve RABAT | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 260.1 | 1’38.511 | 1.378 / 0.023 |
| 12. | 36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 255.3 | 1’38.525 | 1.392 / 0.014 |
| 13. | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 253.8 | 1’38.573 | 1.440 / 0.048 |
| 14. | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 251.5 | 1’38.636 | 1.503 / 0.063 |
| 15. | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | Arguiñano Racing Team | AJR | 247.9 | 1’38.642 | 1.509 / 0.006 |
| 16. | 44 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 248.4 | 1’38.665 | 1.532 / 0.023 |
| 17. | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 248.4 | 1’38.899 | 1.766 / 0.234 |
| 18. | 76 | Max NEUKIRCHNER | GER | Kiefer Racing | Kalex | 248.6 | 1’38.950 | 1.817 / 0.051 |
| 19. | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 249.0 | 1’38.996 | 1.863 / 0.046 |
| 20. | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 248.9 | 1’39.191 | 2.058 / 0.195 |
| 21. | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team | Suter | 254.2 | 1’39.200 | 2.067 / 0.009 |
| 22. | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | S/Master Speed Up | Speed Up | 251.7 | 1’39.207 | 2.074 / 0.007 |
| 23. | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | Blusens Avintia | Suter | 249.4 | 1’39.257 | 2.124 / 0.050 |
| 24. | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 245.6 | 1’39.302 | 2.169 / 0.045 |
| 25. | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team | Suter | 250.9 | 1’39.584 | 2.451 / 0.282 |
| 26. | 8 | Gino REA | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 252.3 | 1’39.628 | 2.495 / 0.044 |
| 27. | 7 | Alexander LUNDH | SWE | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | MZ-RE Honda | 245.2 | 1’39.941 | 2.808 / 0.313 |
| 28. | 95 | Anthony WEST | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 248.4 | 1’40.333 | 3.200 / 0.392 |
| 29. | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 252.7 | 1’40.675 | 3.542 / 0.342 |
| 30. | 50 | Damian CUDLIN | AUS | Desguaces La Torre SAG | Bimota | 244.7 | 1’40.746 | 3.613 / 0.071 |
| 31. | 57 | Eric GRANADO | BRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 242.0 | 1’40.970 | 3.837 / 0.224 |
| 32. | 10 | Marco COLANDREA | SWI | SAG Team | FTR | 249.2 | 1’41.276 | 4.143 / 0.306 |
| 33. | 82 | Elena ROSELL | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 247.8 | 1’42.273 | 5.140 / 0.997 |
