MotoGP Info 2012: Bautista storms to maiden pole position at Silverstone

2012-06-16 18:36
The MotoGP™ championship was largely spared by the British weather during today’s qualifying practices at the Hertz British Grand Prix, where, in an incident-packed session, it was San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista who recorded his first ever premier-class pole position at Silverstone ahead of Ben Spies and Casey Stoner.

With rain starting to fall five minutes before the end, no one was able to trump Bautista’s time in the low 2.03’s, which displaced Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies onto second on the grid, who himself ran off track on a few occasions throughout. The front row is completed by this morning’s pace-setter Casey Stoner, who looked to be struggling with chatter on his bike once more in the afternoon session.

Spies’ teammate and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo heads the second row, after a mistake at turn 6 on his hot-lap meant he was unable to place any higher. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa lines up next to him in fifth, after having found a little bit more confidence in the new Bridgestone front tyre. Completing the second row is Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá, who looked full of confidence as he qualified as highest placed Ducati.

Seventh place is occupied by Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, who managed to post his fast lap before crashing out at Vale corner in the latter stages. In eighth, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso was unusually low down the order, after having impressed in free practice this morning. The top ten is rounded out by LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, riding with an injured finger after a crash this morning, as well as Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, who had a near carbon-copy crash to Hayden in the same corner at the start of the session. Both Ducati riders walked away unscathed. Best CRT finisher was Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró in 11th.

The Qualifying Practice did not include local rider Cal Crutchlow, as he crashed his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine in the morning practice, injuring his ankle. He underwent medial checks at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, which confirmed he did not incur any fractures, but that it was sprained. Crutchlow is undergoing treatment at the hospital, and will have a final assessment tomorrow morning to see if he is fit to race.

Bautista’s pole position is the first time since the Assen TT race last year that Lorenzo, Stoner or Pedrosa have not started from first. At that race, it was also the San Carlo squad that took top spot with the late Marco Simoncelli.




P.Espargaró

Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró continued his strong weekend with his first ever Moto2™ pole position at the Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone ahead of Andrea Iannone and Scott Redding.

The rain held off for the Moto2 contingent in the last qualifying session of the afternoon, with Espargaró taking advantage of conditions to set a fastest time of 2.08’011 ahead of Speed Master’s Iannone. The British crowd had something to cheer about as Marc VDS Racing Team’s Redding completes the front row, despite having a big wobble in the session.

Tech 3 Racing’s local rider Bradley Smith, who has also looked on tremendous form all weekend, was not quite able to make the front row, yet will no doubt be pleased with his starting position in fourth. He heads Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez, who recovered from a big crash this morning, as well as Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti, who was on pole here in 2010.

Seventh place is occupied by Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi, who almost came off on his final fast-lap, while eighth place went to JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis and Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi complete the top ten.

Qualifying was largely incident free, yet in the final ten minutes, Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner, Espargaró’s teammate Esteve Rabat and Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón all crashed out. No rider was seriously hurt.




M.Viñales

In a qualifying session where strong winds made it tough for the light Moto3™ bikes at the Hertz British Grand Prix, it was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who snatched pole ahead of Efrén Vázquez and Alexis Masbou.

With dark clouds threatening from the start, most of the Moto3 grid was out on track early on, trying to set a fast time in case rain appeared. It was to however stay dry for all the session, during which Viñales set the fastest time of 2.16’187 to secure his third pole position this season. Behind him was JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez, who set his lap early on, ousting Caretta Technology’s Alexis Masbou into third.

Heading the second row is Red Bull KTM Ajo’s championship leader Sandro Cortese, who encountered a melee of traffic on his final laps, much to his displeasure. He finished ahead of his teammate Danny Kent and RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom. Salóm had initially been classified in fourth, yet his lap time was cancelled due to gaining an advantage in the last turn by running off track.

The third row is headed by Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi, who was another rider struggling for clear track, ahead of AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati. Rounding out the top ten is Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins.

Strong and gusty winds throughout the session made riding tough for the field, particularly in some bends where the front end of the bike became very light. This caused numerous wobbles during qualifying, yet only caught out wildcard entry Frazer Rogers on board his Racing Steps Foundation KPR machine, as he lost the front in turn 5 eight minutes before the end. Rogers was unhurt in the incident.

Source: MotoGP

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