2012 Moto3 Championship
The Moto3 grid was greeted by a continually drying track for qualifying at the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón where it was Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who stormed to his maiden GP pole position ahead of Luis Salom and Sandro Cortese.
Under threatening skies but a track that was almost fully dry by the end of the session it was Folger’s time of 2.01’715 that saw him take his first ever Grand Prix pole position, with RW Racing GP’s injured Salom less than two tenths behind him in second. There had been concerns that Salom may not be able to contest qualifying after a crash this morning, yet he was declared fit despite a very sore shoulder. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese completes the front row in third, as the German was unable to match his compatriots pace in the final stages.
Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati heads the second row in fourth, having had a terrific session at the Spanish track, ending the afternoon just under five-tenths off the top. Lining up next to him in fifth is Cortese’s teammate Danny Kent, whilst the final spot on the row belongs to Blusens Avintia’s championship pursuer Maverick Viñales. Viñales had been lingering further back in the field when the track was damp at the start, yet soon made his way up once conditions improved.
In seventh, AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin was unable to repeat his top spot from this morning, but will no doubt be pleased with his performance. Next to him in eighth, JHK t-shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez looked as if he might make it onto the second row in the latter stages, yet was unable to match the pace in the final laps. Yesterday’s pace-setter, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira completes the third row, with his teammate Alex Rins rounding out the top ten.
2012 Aragon Moto3 Qualifying Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | Kalex KTM | 230.0 | 2’01.715 | |
| 2. | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 231.1 | 2’01.867 | 0.152 / 0.152 |
| 3. | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 227.5 | 2’02.041 | 0.326 / 0.174 |
| 4. | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 226.5 | 2’02.202 | 0.487 / 0.161 |
| 5. | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 228.8 | 2’02.236 | 0.521 / 0.034 |
| 6. | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Blusens Avintia | FTR Honda | 227.9 | 2’02.362 | 0.647 / 0.126 |
| 7. | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | KTM | 231.0 | 2’02.387 | 0.672 / 0.025 |
| 8. | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | JHK t-shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 230.4 | 2’02.461 | 0.746 / 0.074 |
| 9. | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 225.1 | 2’02.571 | 0.856 / 0.110 |
| 10. | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 220.9 | 2’02.763 | 1.048 / 0.192 |
| 11. | 27 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 223.9 | 2’02.976 | 1.261 / 0.213 |
| 12. | 23 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Andalucia JHK t-shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 229.3 | 2’03.012 | 1.297 / 0.036 |
| 13. | 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Racing Team Germany | FTR Honda | 230.4 | 2’03.081 | 1.366 / 0.069 |
| 14. | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 226.1 | 2’03.290 | 1.575 / 0.209 |
| 15. | 58 | Juan Francisco GUEVARA | SPA | Wild Wolf BST | FTR Honda | 220.8 | 2’03.412 | 1.697 / 0.122 |
| 16. | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 232.0 | 2’03.414 | 1.699 / 0.002 |
| 17. | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 226.7 | 2’03.588 | 1.873 / 0.174 |
| 18. | 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 225.0 | 2’03.635 | 1.920 / 0.047 |
| 19. | 26 | Adrian MARTIN | SPA | JHK t-shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 224.3 | 2’03.753 | 2.038 / 0.118 |
| 20. | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | TT Motion Events Racing | KTM | 227.4 | 2’03.888 | 2.173 / 0.135 |
| 21. | 30 | Giulian PEDONE | SWI | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 224.1 | 2’03.981 | 2.266 / 0.093 |
| 22. | 29 | Luca AMATO | GER | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | Kalex KTM | 223.1 | 2’04.030 | 2.315 / 0.049 |
| 23. | 8 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Caretta Technology | Honda | 223.6 | 2’04.405 | 2.690 / 0.375 |
| 24. | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Moto FGR | FGR Honda | 223.4 | 2’04.820 | 3.105 / 0.415 |
| 25. | 9 | Toni FINSTERBUSCH | GER | Racing Team Germany | Honda | 222.0 | 2’05.211 | 3.496 / 0.391 |
| 26. | 49 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Bradol Larresport | Honda | 221.2 | 2’05.323 | 3.608 / 0.112 |
| 27. | 17 | John McPHEE | GBR | Caretta Technology | KRP Honda | 222.6 | 2’05.441 | 3.726 / 0.118 |
| 28. | 99 | Danny WEBB | GBR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 220.2 | 2’05.547 | 3.832 / 0.106 |
| 29. | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 223.7 | 2’05.830 | 4.115 / 0.283 |
| 30. | 89 | Alan TECHER | FRA | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 224.1 | 2’05.926 | 4.211 / 0.096 |
| 31. | 80 | Armando PONTONE | ITA | IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 221.0 | 2’06.259 | 4.544 / 0.333 |
| 32. | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 225.2 | 2’06.882 | 5.167 / 0.623 |
| 33. | 51 | Kenta FUJII | JPN | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 223.1 | 2’07.380 | 5.665 / 0.498 |
| 34. | 95 | Miroslav POPOV | CZE | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 212.9 | 2’08.406 | 6.691 / 1.026 |
| 3 | Luigi MORCIANO | ITA | Ioda Team Italia | Ioda |
