Simon hoping to fight for victory from second row

The Moto2 World Championship riders escaped the rain in free practice yesterday but weren’t as fortunate today as afternoon rain left a damp track for the opening ten minutes of qualifying. It quickly dried, however, giving Alex De Angelis the opportunity to take pole position ahead of Scott Redding and the two surprise packages of the session, Mapfre Aspar rider Mike Di Meglio and Stefan Bradl. Unlike the last two races, which have seen a handful of contenders for victory, tomorrow could be an open race with a large group at the front.

So far the unique layout and conditions of Phillip Island have been to the liking of Di Meglio and his team-mate Julián Simón, who both qualified in the top six. Fourth place is the Frenchman’s best qualifying performance in Moto2 and tomorrow he will start from the front row for the first time in the new category. His team-mate Julián Simón, who struggled to find the right gearbox setting to cope with the wind, was unable to repeat his pole positions from the last two rounds but remains confident of a podium challenge from sixth.

6th Julián Simón 1.35.883 (17 laps): “Hopefully tomorrow is not as windy because we have struggled to find a set-up today. I am still not sure about the right gear ratio and I want to compare with my team-mayte and the other Suter riders to get more information and make a decision. There are sections where it feels too short and others where it feels too long so it is difficult to stay consistent. Anyway, I am not going to worry about it too much because in general my times have been good. I think it is going to be a close race with a lot of overtaking. I will try to get the best possible start to get ahead of Iannone and hang on to second place in the championship. Victory won’t come cheaply because there will be a big group and it won’t be decided until the end.”

Source: Mapfre Aspar Team