Excellent Aragon Qualifying for Terol, 1st – and Torres, 5th
With MotoGP and Moto3 pole times from last year being beaten on Saturday at Aragon the Moto2 class was not to be left out of the party. The pace was hot in Moto2 QP with a good battle between Terol and Rabat at the top.
Nakagami tried to stay with the pace, but the Spanish pair took things up a level in the final minutes and were the only riders able to go under the 1’54 mark. Terol came out on top with a 1’53.812, and he along with Catalan rider Rabat will be a victory candidate on Sunday. Unless Espargaró or Nakagami can prevent them escaping, Terol and Rabat could run away at the front.
A superb pole position lap, six low 1’54 laps and three more in the high 1’53 territory mean Nico Terol is being tipped for a win on Sunday. The MAPFRE Aspar rider has today shown that the test carried out at Alcarrás at the beginning of the week was a big success.
He has arrived at Motorland looking strong, leading two FP sessions and dominating QP. He has achieved his first Moto2 pole and this is a track he likes, having won in the 125cc class here in 2011. He aims for the top spot on the podium.
His teammate Jordi Torres has also produced eight laps in the 1’54 region and his fastest time, on the last of those quick times, puts him fifth on the grid. His Friday crash meant he was working against the clock on Saturday but he worked hard to make progress and has podium aspirations.
1st Nico Terol 1’53.812 (17 laps):
“I’m really happy with how things have gone and to get my first Moto2 pole. It started well yesterday and that helped me set a fast pace today. Being well ahead in three sessions helps with confidence and I’m riding really comfortably. As well as the fast times our pace is amazing. I tried to go faster on new tyres but got caught in traffic otherwise I could have set another strong lap time. The Alcarrás test helped with grip and set-up and that’s been crucial. You see that any improvement you make with the bike in Moto2 can make a big difference as it’s so competitive. I feel calm because the feeling has been good all weekend and physically I’m better. Tito also has good pace and I want to get away strong at the start so the group can’t follow us in the race. We both have good pace but anything can happen in Moto2. I’m ready to fight for the win.”
5th Jordi Torres 1’54.564 (19 laps):
“We had a lot to do today and early on I realized we would have to make a change which took up more time. We wanted to adjust the chassis stiffness in the afternoon but time flies in QP so we just went for it. Anyway we still have some good data to work on the chassis, although we still don’t know if increasing the stiffness is going to help us. We want the bike to give us more confidence in the front end which would give us more corner speed, so we’ll try something in Warm Up. Despite all this our pace is good and we should be with the front group in the race.”
Source: Aspar Media
