Espargaro goes from crash to pole with brilliant last lap, Rabat qualifies 8th, Pons 21st
It’s been big emotions in the first battle for pole position in the new Moto2 season.
Pol Espargaró snatched the first one at the Qatar Grand Prix – last year he took a total of eight poles and 12 in his career so far – in the final second of the session and after overcoming a heavy crash from the early stages of the qualifying.
His teammates Tito Rabat and Axel Pons were less fortunate, starting from the third and seventh row, respectively. Tito, who was very strong in the entire preseason and the first three practice sessions in Losail, had grip problems on the rear and wasn’t able to finish higher than eighth place.
Axel Pons on the other hand crashed in the final stages of the session when his partial laptimes would have put him in the Top 10.
1. POL ESPARGARÓ, 2.00.882 “I took pole in the final lap, something very special when you keep in mind that I crashed in the early stages of the session and suffered a heavy hit on the head and hand. Starting the year with a pole position is important, because it gives confidence although with the crash I lost of lot of time and I didn’t have the pace I would have liked. When returning to the track, after the great work of my crew to get the bike in top condition, I though that being among the top three would already be a great result, but in the end I pushed hard and I managed a great laptime. Tomorrow I’m convinced it will be a very exciting race which will see a lot of riders in front, so you have to manage the tyres well during the 19 laps and not make any mistakes.”
8. TITO RABAT, 2.01.462 “I’m a bit disappointed with how the first qualifying of the season has gone, until now I’ve always been among the top guys and I’ll start the race from the third row. I had a lot of bumping on the rear wheel and it was very difficult for me to handle the fast corners, it was impossible to ride harder without crashing. I hope to solve this problem before the race and I’m confident I’ll be able to fight for the podium.”
21. AXEL PONS, 2.02.432 “In the moment of truth I lacked confidence, having no grip at all, and when I was about to do a fast lap I made a mistake and crashed. I feel bad, because during the whole preseason I was close to the top ten and now I have to start the first race from very far behind on the grid. I think in the race I can do much better, but it’s clear that with such changing conditions it is very difficult to improve the setting of the bike every time you go out on track.”
Source: Pons Racing Press Release
