2013 Qatar Moto2 Qualifying Results
Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro earned the first Moto2 pole position of 2013 under the floodlights at Losail International Circuit, coming back from a crash to deliver a remarkable final lap at the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar.
Joining Espargaro on the front row for Sunday’s Moto2 race will be Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami and Marc VDS Racing Team’s Mika Kallio.
Riders were challenged with much traffic and an extremely dusty track surface from the off. This was confirmed by an assortment of falls, not least for Espargaro himself who went down within the first five minutes. Adding to the early surprises, Nakagami, another pace-setter so far this weekend, was stuck in his garage with problems early on.
Amid the early dramas, the Marc VDS bike of Scott Redding headed the timesheets and appeared to be losing less ground on the start/finish straight than in previous sessions. He eventually settled for fourth place as Espargaró surprised many, including himself, to pick up a remarkable half a second in the final sector alone, sealing the top spot with 2’00.882. One and a half tenths cover the top three, with Nakagami, deprived of a career-first pole by just over a tenth, eventually managing 15 laps as Kallio improved his personal best in the last knockings.
Behind Redding, row two is completed by Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter and second Italtrans representative Julián Simón. Nico Terol will start seventh for the Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2, making up the third row with Tuenti’s Esteve Rabat and Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrotter. JiR Moto2’s Mike di Meglio was tenth, as less than a second covered the first 13 riders; that particular group was rounded out by reigning Moto3 Champion Sandro Cortese, who managed to re-join the session for Dynavolt Intact GP following an earlier highside from which he escaped unharmed.
Also falling during the 45 minutes were Interwetten Paddock’s Sergio Gadea, substituting for the injured Tom Lüthi, and NGM Mobile Racing’s Mattia Pasini.
2013 Qatar Moto2 Qualifying Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Tuenti HP 40 | Pons Kalex | 274.1 | 2’00.882 | |
| 2 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 270.9 | 2’01.014 | 0.132 / 0.132 |
| 3 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 272.8 | 2’01.041 | 0.159 / 0.027 |
| 4 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 273.6 | 2’01.089 | 0.207 / 0.048 |
| 5 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag carXpert | Suter | 277.4 | 2’01.120 | 0.238 / 0.031 |
| 6 | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 273.1 | 2’01.447 | 0.565 / 0.327 |
| 7 | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 269.1 | 2’01.454 | 0.572 / 0.007 |
| 8 | 80 | Esteve RABAT | SPA | Tuenti HP 40 | Pons Kalex | 271.5 | 2’01.462 | 0.580 / 0.008 |
| 9 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Desguaces La Torre SAG | Kalex | 273.9 | 2’01.541 | 0.659 / 0.079 |
| 10 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | Jir Moto2 | Motobi | 281.7 | 2’01.573 | 0.691 / 0.032 |
| 11 | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | NGM Mobile Racing | Speed Up | 280.5 | 2’01.619 | 0.737 / 0.046 |
| 12 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Speed Up | 274.6 | 2’01.647 | 0.765 / 0.028 |
| 13 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 271.0 | 2’01.841 | 0.959 / 0.194 |
| 14 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Came Iodaracing Project | Suter | 273.6 | 2’01.885 | 1.003 / 0.044 |
| 15 | 95 | Anthony WEST | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 274.1 | 2’01.944 | 1.062 / 0.059 |
| 16 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 266.1 | 2’02.001 | 1.119 / 0.057 |
| 17 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Desguaces La Torre Maptaq | Kalex | 270.5 | 2’02.125 | 1.243 / 0.124 |
| 18 | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Speed Up | 274.8 | 2’02.266 | 1.384 / 0.141 |
| 19 | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 272.0 | 2’02.335 | 1.453 / 0.069 |
| 20 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Blusens Avintia | Kalex | 274.5 | 2’02.403 | 1.521 / 0.068 |
| 21 | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | Tuenti HP 40 | Pons Kalex | 274.5 | 2’02.432 | 1.550 / 0.029 |
| 22 | 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 272.1 | 2’02.607 | 1.725 / 0.175 |
| 23 | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Moriwaki | 265.8 | 2’02.800 | 1.918 / 0.193 |
| 24 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | SWI | Technomag carXpert | Suter | 272.6 | 2’02.908 | 2.026 / 0.108 |
| 25 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | NGM Mobile Racing | Speed Up | 277.7 | 2’03.006 | 2.124 / 0.098 |
| 26 | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 269.1 | 2’03.039 | 2.157 / 0.033 |
| 27 | 7 | Doni Tata PRADITA | INA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 266.7 | 2’04.177 | 3.295 / 1.138 |
| 28 | 9 | Kyle SMITH | GBR | Blusens Avintia | Kalex | 271.1 | 2’04.436 | 3.554 / 0.259 |
| 29 | 44 | Steven ODENDAAL | RSA | Argiñano & Gines Racing | Speed Up | 268.9 | 2’04.657 | 3.775 / 0.221 |
| 30 | 97 | Rafid Topan SUCIPTO | INA | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 267.7 | 2’04.731 | 3.849 / 0.074 |
| 31 | 17 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Argiñano & Gines Racing | Speed Up | 272.3 | 2’04.873 | 3.991 / 0.142 |
| 32 | 33 | Sergio GADEA | SPA | Interwetten Paddock | Suter | 272.1 | 2’05.869 | 4.987 / 0.996 |
