Motegi Moto2: Márquez takes closely contested pole

The Moto2 qualifying session at Motegi saw a battle for pole between Interwetten Paddock Moto2 rider Thomas Lüthi and Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez, with the Spaniard managing to secure pole with a fastest time of 1’52.067 – under two tenths of a second faster than Lüthi. 

Márquez came close to crashing whilst on a fast lap but managed to impressively save the fall with his knee.

Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) qualified in third to complete the front row, whilst Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) will start from fourth on the grid, having managed to save a near-crash. Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) and Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) complete the second row in fifth and sixth respectively.

Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) heads row three in seventh ahead of Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP).

Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) will start tomorrow’s race from fifteenth on thr grid.

Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) fell after runing out of track and Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX), following closely behind just managed to avoid hitting Espargaró and his bike.

Sergeo Gadea (Desguaces La Torre G22) and Randy Krummenacher (GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing) crashed out in separate incidents.

1. Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter 259.2 1’52.067 
2. Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 260.9 1’52.260 0.193 / 0.193
3. Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Suter 259.6 1’52.423 0.356 / 0.163
4. Bradley SMITH GBR Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 254.3 1’52.645 0.578 / 0.222
5. Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 257.9 1’52.694 0.627 / 0.049
6. Simone CORSI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 256.2 1’52.696 0.629 / 0.002
7. Alex DE ANGELIS RSM JIR Moto2 Motobi 258.4 1’52.763 0.696 / 0.067
8. Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Kalex 260.2 1’52.789 0.722 / 0.026
9. Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 257.8 1’52.799 0.732 / 0.010
10. Mattia PASINI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 255.8 1’52.853 0.786 / 0.054
11. Jordi TORRES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 254.2 1’52.949 0.882 / 0.096
12. Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 258.7 1’53.082 1.015 / 0.133
13. Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 257.8 1’53.135 1.068 / 0.053
14. Michele PIRRO ITA Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 253.8 1’53.172 1.105 / 0.037
15. Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 252.9 1’53.201 1.134 / 0.029
16. Xavier SIMEON BEL Tech 3 B Tech 3 252.0 1’53.210 1.143 / 0.009
17. Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX FTR 258.2 1’53.274 1.207 / 0.064
18. Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 256.0 1’53.291 1.224 / 0.017
19. Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Technomag-CIP Suter 256.7 1’53.376 1.309 / 0.085
20. Raffaele DE ROSA ITA NGM Forward Racing Suter 253.0 1’53.430 1.363 / 0.054
21. Pol ESPARGARO SPA HP Tuenti Speed Up FTR 257.9 1’53.532 1.465 / 0.102
22. Ricard CARDUS SPA QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 253.1 1’53.638 1.571 / 0.106
23. Anthony WEST AUS MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 257.6 1’53.715 1.648 / 0.077
24. Axel PONS SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 259.4 1’53.755 1.688 / 0.040
25. Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 254.2 1’53.779 1.712 / 0.024
26. Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda Singha SAG FTR 253.5 1’53.818 1.751 / 0.039
27. Jules CLUZEL FRA NGM Forward Racing Suter 258.3 1’53.820 1.753 / 0.002
28. Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Blusens-STX FTR 256.5 1’53.966 1.899 / 0.146
29. Max NEUKIRCHNER GER MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 253.4 1’53.969 1.902 / 0.003
30. Kenny NOYES USA Avintia-STX FTR 255.9 1’54.161 2.094 / 0.192
31. Valentin DEBISE FRA Speed Up FTR 255.6 1’54.341 2.274 / 0.180
32. Santiago HERNANDEZ COL SAG Team FTR 255.0 1’54.375 2.308 / 0.034
33. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN CIP with TSR TSR 6 257.8 1’54.441 2.374 / 0.066
34. Joan OLIVE SPA Aeroport de Castello FTR 254.2 1’54.740 2.673 / 0.299
35. Mashel AL NAIMI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 255.1 1’54.744 2.677 / 0.004
36. Robertino PIETRI VEN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 251.1 1’54.911 2.844 / 0.167
37. Sergio GADEA SPA Desguaces La Torre G22 Moriwaki 251.8 1’55.558 3.491 / 0.647