Terol happy with qualifying and overall pace

One of the closest qualifying sesisons of the 125cc season took place this afternoon at Misano, where Bancaja Aspar rider Nico Terol and title rival Marc Marquez had dominated free practice but were challenged by Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaró in qualifying. Any one of them could have ended up with pole position in a frenetic finale to the session but in the end it was Bancaja Aspar rider Smith who took his second of the season thanks largely to a sensational first and second sector.

The British rider will be joined on the front row for the third race in succession by his team-mate Terol, who has continued his excellent recent form here and remains a serious contender for the victory tomorrow. The Spaniard topped the time sheets in the early stages of the session and nearly did so at the very end too, missing out by just three tenths of a second on his best lap.

3rd Nico Terol 1.43.644 (18 laps): “I am happy because so far in every session my pace is good and I feel comfortable. The objective today was to fight for pole but a front row start is enough for us to be up there in the lead group. I’m sure Bradley, Marc, Pol and I will be fighting for the victory and pace will be fast. I think myself and Márquez have a tiny bit more pace than the others but it couldn’t have been closer in qualifying. Bradley pulled out a very fast lap at the end and that will give him confidence for a race I am sure he wants to win. That is my objective too but we’ll have to see what happens in the race because the most important thing is to be in the points.”

Source: Bancaja Aspar Team