2012 Mugello Moto2 Qualifying Results
Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró recovered from a heavy crash in this morning’s Moto2 practice to claim pole position for Sunday’s race at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at Mugello ahead of Marc Márquez and Andrea Iannone in a tightly fought qualifying session.
Espargaró left it right until the end to post the fastest lap of 1.52’389, which moved Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Márquez into second, after the championship leader had lead up until the final minute.
Despite JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco setting the third fastest time of the session, he will start from 18th on the grid tomorrow, after being handed a 15 spot grid penalty by Race Direction. Zarco had been at fault for taking out Espargaró in the morning practice as he went into turn one too hot and slid into the Spaniard, which was subsequently ruled as riding in an irresponsible manner. His team did not lodge an appeal.
This moved Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone up into third, putting an Italian on the front row of the grid, much to the delight of the home fans. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis put in yet another strong performance on his FTR machine to line up fourth, alongside Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi in fifth.
Lüthi had been the pace setter earlier in the day, yet could not repeat his feat in the afternoon. Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith completes row two, despite crashing out on his final hot lap.
Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding qualified seventh, narrowly ousting Espargaró’s teammate Esteve Rabbat into eighth. Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami rounds out row three, while Mapfre Aspar Team’s Nico Terol had a good session at the Italian circuit as he finished tenth.
There were numerous crashes throughout the session with Tech 3’s Xavier Siméon, Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi, Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio and Cresto Guide MZ Racing’s Mike Di Meglio, S/Master Speed Up’s Alessandro Andreozzi, SAG Team’s Marco Colandrea, Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2’s Ratthapark Wilairot, and Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner all coming off their bikes. Neukirchner was the only rider to suffer an injury, hurting his right hand. His condition will be assessed before warm-up Sunday morning.
2012 Mugello Moto2 Qualifying Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 40 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 286.9 | 1’52.369 | |
| 2. | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol | Suter | 290.0 | 1’52.438 | 0.069 / 0.069 |
| 3. | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 282.7 | 1’52.781 | 0.412 / 0.343 |
| 4. | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Speed Master | Speed Up | 285.8 | 1’52.835 | 0.466 / 0.054 |
| 5. | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 288.4 | 1’52.883 | 0.514 / 0.048 |
| 6. | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Interwetten-Paddock | Suter | 285.7 | 1’52.946 | 0.577 / 0.063 |
| 7. | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 282.5 | 1’53.029 | 0.660 / 0.083 |
| 8. | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 278.2 | 1’53.059 | 0.690 / 0.030 |
| 9. | 80 | Esteve RABAT | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 287.4 | 1’53.090 | 0.721 / 0.031 |
| 10. | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 284.7 | 1’53.152 | 0.783 / 0.062 |
| 11. | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 285.6 | 1’53.258 | 0.889 / 0.106 |
| 12. | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | FTR | 285.3 | 1’53.266 | 0.897 / 0.008 |
| 13. | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 286.0 | 1’53.319 | 0.950 / 0.053 |
| 14. | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 286.4 | 1’53.409 | 1.040 / 0.090 |
| 15. | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 288.2 | 1’53.509 | 1.140 / 0.100 |
| 16. | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | SWI | GP Team Switzerland | Kalex | 285.2 | 1’53.566 | 1.197 / 0.057 |
| 17. | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | MZ-RE Honda | 287.4 | 1’53.672 | 1.303 / 0.106 |
| 18. | 76 | Max NEUKIRCHNER | GER | Kiefer Racing | Kalex | 283.9 | 1’53.683 | 1.314 / 0.011 |
| 19. | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | Blusens Avintia | Suter | 281.8 | 1’53.715 | 1.346 / 0.032 |
| 20. | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | Arguiñano Racing Team | AJR | 281.1 | 1’53.722 | 1.353 / 0.007 |
| 21. | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | Kalex | 282.1 | 1’53.787 | 1.418 / 0.065 |
| 22. | 36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 288.8 | 1’53.984 | 1.615 / 0.197 |
| 23. | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 286.7 | 1’54.038 | 1.669 / 0.054 |
| 24. | 44 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 284.9 | 1’54.164 | 1.795 / 0.126 |
| 25. | 8 | Gino REA | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 279.4 | 1’54.513 | 2.144 / 0.349 |
| 26. | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 276.6 | 1’54.726 | 2.357 / 0.213 |
| 27. | 95 | Anthony WEST | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 285.5 | 1’54.802 | 2.433 / 0.076 |
| 28. | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 276.9 | 1’54.890 | 2.521 / 0.088 |
| 29. | 22 | Alessandro ANDREOZZI | ITA | S/Master Speed Up | Speed Up | 278.1 | 1’55.267 | 2.898 / 0.377 |
| 30. | 10 | Marco COLANDREA | SWI | SAG Team | FTR | 278.1 | 1’55.374 | 3.005 / 0.107 |
| 31. | 55 | Massimo ROCCOLI | ITA | Desguaces La Torre SAG | Bimota | 276.1 | 1’55.518 | 3.149 / 0.144 |
| 32. | 57 | Eric GRANADO | BRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 275.2 | 1’56.337 | 3.968 / 0.819 |
| 33. | 82 | Elena ROSELL | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 273.5 | 1’57.081 | 4.712 / 0.744 |
