Elias & Terol starting from 6th and 9th rows in Qatar

The first qualifying session of the new Moto2 World Championship proved to be equally as chaotic as those that preceded it over the past two years, with thick traffic fighting for positions on track and a potential tow to a fast lap time. Thomas Luthi managed to find enough space to set a deserved pole position after dominating practice so far this weekend and the Swiss rider is the current favourite for victory, although anything can happen in Moto2 and usually does.

MAPFRE Aspar riders Toni Elías and Nico Terol both need to show the fighting qualities that made them World Champions in the Moto2 and 125cc classes respectively, after a difficult qualifying session saw them finish some way down the grid. Both worked hard to find more grip, Elías focusing on his chassis set-up in the fast corners whilst Terol’s work was based around tyre choice, the pair qualifying in 17th and 26th place respectively.

17th Toni Elías 2.01.618 (16 laps):
“I am struggling more than I would like and we are some way down the grid but we have to be optimistic and keep working to improve before the race starts. Hopefully we can do that and then it is a case of me fighting as hard as I can once the race starts. We still need laps on the bike to get up to speed so the objective tomorrow has to be to leave Qatar with as many points as possible. We are all working hard and we will turn things around soon.”

26th Nico Terol 2.02.811 (17 laps):
“It was a strange session tonight and I struggled to get feel. I spent too much time chasing a tow instead of focusing on my own pace and that cost us. I changed tyre a few times because the bike kept giving me scares, I don’t know whether that was because of the track or because the rubber wasn’t up to temperature. When changing things didn’t work I started to lose confidence so now we need to focus on getting my pace back together for the race.”

Source: Aspar Media