Fifth Pole Of The Season Leaves Terol “Really Pleased”
The 125cc riders wasted little time getting on the pace in qualifying this afternoon as rain threatened to interrupt their battle for grid positions after a wet final free practice this morning. As it was the track was dry if a little dirty, allowing Nico Terol and Johann Zarco to fight it out for pole position, which swung between the Spaniard and the Frenchman until a decisive late surge from Terol. Héctor Faubel and Sandro Cortese did their best to close the gap but will have to find some more pace if they are to challenge in the race tomorrow.
BANKIA Aspar rider Terol is aware of and happy with his positions as the pre-race favourite and his target tomorrow is to break the group, having set four laps in the 2’08s today. His fastest lap was four tenths clear of the rest of the field and good enough for his fifth pole of the season, from where he will target his third win in as many years at this track. His team-mate Héctor Faubel missed out on a front row start by a fraction of a second, qualifying fourth fastest as he looks to repeat his win from the last race in Germany. Adrián Martín has the more modest target of finishing the race after three without doing so and from thirteenth on the grid he is well place to challenge for the points.
1st Nico Terol 2.08.118 (15 laps):
“I am really pleased with pole position and with the job we’ve done today. We were fast this morning in the wet conditions and my pace was good in the dry this afternoon. Brno has always been a good circuit for me and I enjoy riding it, which always shows in the lap times. Zarco is showing that he is a strong rival but my team-mate Héctor should be in the lead group too tomorrow along with Cortese. The hand has not been a problem all weekend and I hope that continues tomorrow. I am ready for the race – obviously I would like to get away but it’s tough here because of the long straights and slipstreams are always important. I will give it my all, set my own pace and fight to win.”
4th Héctor Faubel 2.08.689 (14 laps):
“I am happy because I have managed to set a lot of laps in the 2’08s but we ran out of time and missed out on a slipstream, which could have given me a tenth or two. Even so I am happy because we have improved a lot and considering we lost an hour this morning in the wet our dry set-up is good. We have made some improvements to the chassis and the engine is running well. I think we have the pace to be in the lead group and even fighting for the win. Nico is a little step ahead of us at the moment but it is difficult to escape at this track and the top four are close.”
13th Adrián Martín 2.10.200 (14 laps):
“We suffered quite a lot in the wet this morning but I felt very comfortable in the afternoon. We improved the bike and I was able to push – it was just a shame that I ran into traffic on the last few laps and got held up in the fast corners. Without that I think I could have got into the 2’09s and qualified higher up. Having not scored points for the last three races this is a good qualifying position though and tomorrow I will try my best to make the most of it.”
Source: Aspar Media
