Terol just misses out on pole position for British GP
The 125cc qualifying session at Silverstone was a hard-fought battle in cool conditions of 17ºc, but thankfully without the rain that had blighted Friday afternoon’s free practice run. Terol and Viñales picked up the pace in search of pole position, with the latter eventually taking the top spot and setting up an intriguing race for Sunday morning at 11am local time.
BANKIA Aspar rider Nico Terol came close to claiming pole position for the British GP, starting off the run with a storming series of opening laps. He was constantly riding in the 2.15 mark, and even dipped into the 2.14s on two occasions. Terol manager the top speed of the 125cc field with a 224,7 km/h maximum through the straight, which marks him out as a prime candidate for victory on Sunday.
Just over a second down was Héctor Faubel, Terol’s BANKIA Aspar teammate. Silverstone is a new track for the Spaniard on a 125cc bike, but he still managed to claim the seventh fastest time in qualifying. The second sector of the circuit is proving the most difficult for Faubel, who hopes to resolve some issues in the morning warmup.
Adrián Martín will start from eleventh on the grid, having cut two seconds from his free practice time. He hopes for a good start and a good ride as part of a fast group at round six.
2nd Nico Terol 2.14.720 (14 laps): “We were fast in qualifying –very close to the pole position time from last year. I found a good pace despite the traffic and am satisfied. I have been riding in under the 2.15 mark, so I suppose this will be the race pace tomorrow if it doesn’t rain. Maverick is going very well here and I suppose that makes him my main rival for the win tomorrow. Hector and Zarco could also be up there, however. We will try some little changes in the warmup that might give us a bit more confidence, but if it rains then the race will be rather difficult. There are parts of the track with a lot of grip, and others that are slippery. We will have to find out where we feel best and focus on not making any mistakes. My goal is to win, but we will have to see what the track conditions are like and go from there, because it is important to take as many points as possible here at Silverstone.”
7th Héctor Faubel 2.15.747 (14 laps): “I am happy with the session and the work that we carried out, but the feeling is that the rain yesterday lost us a lot of time. I am one second off the pole time on a 6km track, with a few improvements to make. We are working well, but we need a little more time, so I hope that tomorrow we can move forward a little more in the warmup. I will start from the third row and I would have liked to have been higher up on the grid, but we are still capable of having a good race. I think that the best thing that can happen for us tomorrow is that it rains in the race. The riders at the front have a bit more pace than us at the moment, so maybe they would take things a bit more slowly were it to rain. I was ahead when it rained at Jerez, so hopefully that situation can repeat itself tomorrow.”
11th Adrián Martín 2.16.743 (12 laps): “It has been a strange weekend so far, because the weather conditions aren’t really helping us out. This circuit is also very bumpy and it was hard for me to get good reference points last year. When I don’t feel completely at ease on the bike I get frustrated and that makes it harder than I would like. Luckily I was able to drop two seconds off my time and was able to improve a little, so I am satisfied with that. I will start from eleventh on the grid, and I think that I could easily ride as part of a group going round in the 2.16’s. I hope that I enjoy myself tomorrow, even if it rains, so that I can earn as many points as possible.”
Source: Team Aspar