Qatar MotoGP: Bradley Smith second in first 125GP practice

Bradley Smith got his 2009 campaign off to a bright start under the spectacular Losail International Circuit floodlights tonight when he posted the second best time in the opening 125GP session.

The Aspar Aprilia rider posted a best time of 2.08.823 on his 16th lap to finish just over a second adrift of pre-season world championship favourite Julian Simon.

On a mild but windy night in the Middle East, Smith’s quickest time was 1.032s off Simon, who topped the timesheets with a best of 2.07.791. Lap times though were still two seconds off record pace with dust blown onto the track in the blustery conditions causing some grip issues.

Smith edged out Nicolas Terol in third by 0.342s, as he was comfortably the best British rider in the opening 40-minute session.

Scott Redding’s best time of 2.10.494s wasn’t good enough for the top ten as he ended up 11th. The Gloucestershire rider was just 0.072s off the top ten on a track where he became the youngest rider in history to claim a Grand Prix front row last season.

Danny Webb could only finish 19th fastest with his best time of 2.11.430 a massive 3.639 off the fastest pace, while it was a baptism of fire for rookie Matt Hoyle.

Making his debut on the Chinese-backed Haojue machine, the Bradford rider was 11.603s off the fastest pace with a best time of 2.19.394s. That was over four seconds slower than Austrian team-mate Michael Ranseder.

1 Julian SIMON SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia 2’07.791
2 Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia 2’08.823 
3 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones Team Aprilia 2’09.165 
4 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull KTM Motorsport KTM 2’09.266 
5 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia 2’09.366
6 Sandro CORTESE GER Ajo Interwetten Derbi 2’09.583
7 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia 2’09.669
8 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Aprilia 2’09.875
9 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Derbi Racing Team Derbi 2’10.170
10 Jonas FOLGER GER Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia 2’10.422 
11 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 2’10.494
12 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Interwetten Derbi 2’10.501 
13 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 2’10.656 
14 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia 2’10.825
15 Joan OLIVE SPA Derbi Racing Team Derbi 2’10.827
16 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones Team Aprilia 2’10.893
17 Lorenzo SAVADORI ITA Fontana Racing Aprilia 2’10.906 
18 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia 2’11.287
19 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia 2’11.430
20 Johann ZARCO FRA WTR San Marino Team Aprilia 2’11.760 
21 Luca MARCONI ITA CBC Corse Aprilia 2’12.587
22 Cameron BEAUBIER USA Red Bull KTM Motorsport KTM 2’13.138 
23 Jasper IWEMA NED Racing Team Germany Honda 2’13.466 
24 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Derbi Racing Team Derbi 2’13.849 
25 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN Loncin Racing Loncin 2’14.223 
26 Michael RANSEDER AUT Haojue Team Haojue 2’15.087 
27 Lukas SEMBERA CZE Matteoni Racing Aprilia 2’15.559 
28 Alexis MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing Loncin 2’16.723 
29 Luca VITALI ITA CBC Corse Aprilia 2’16.800
30 Matthew HOYLE GBR Haojue Team Haojue 2’19.394 
31 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia 2’23.205