Nico Terol qualifies fifth, Jordi Torres ninth in tight Mugello qualifying

This has been one of the most open Moto2 GP weekends of the season so far with several different riders from the intermediate class each taking their turn in the spotlight. The morning session and the opening laps saw various riders asserting themselves with everyone chasing the same goals.

Mugello’s long straight mean that using slipstreams is crucial here and often it is unclear who will finish in the respective podium positions until they are right on the finishing line. Redding was the mano n pole today with

Nakagami not far behind him. Terol, Rabat and Schrotter were not far away and the top 14 are split by just one second, with a great race expected on Sunday.

MAPFRE Aspar’s Nico Terol qualified fifth and is pleased with his day’s work. He has a good podium chance given his practice pace. The Spaniard was just four tenths off pole and were it not for a slight slip in the third sector his best time would have been even quicker. He was the best Spanish rider on day two and the recent wind testing helped him to register the Moto2 top speed on Saturday (286.3 km/h).

His teammate Jordi Torres also had a good day, improving at the end of free practice. A defectious rear tyre slowed him down, but he went back onto a previously used tyre to qualify on the third row.

5th Nico Terol 1.53.368 (20 laps):
“I’m pretty satisfied with the feeling from today as we worked hard to improve consistently. As a result I was able to string together a series of 1.53 laps which is great news for the race, which is going to be long and hard. We need to save our tyres for the last laps. I wanted to be on the front row but either of the first two rows is ok. We worked on our performance on the hard front tyre and it was good, but there is more work to do in the warm-up on set-up. The team works constantly though and that’s why we’re getting better in every single session. The race will be about groups of riders and some are quicker than us but let’s see how it pans out towards the end. I’m ready for a good battle.”

9th Jordi Torres 1.53.611 (17 laps):
“The good thing about today is that after going backwards on Friday afternoon we sorted it out on Saturday. We took a risk this morning and it paid off. That meant we had a good set-up for qualifying and that gave us confidence. I felt good on the brakes and we had good grip when on the corner apex. In the afternoon we went out for a look and then came back to change the tyres, but then the feeling was strange on the rear and the tyre was defectious. So we went back onto an older tyre and were able to push hard to get ninth place. I’m pleased because I made my best laps riding alone and tomorrow I want to ride in a group in order to see what the slipstreams will give us”.

Source: Aspar Media