Jordi Torres on Phillip Island front row, Nico Terol lines up in 8th

Today’s Moto2 qualifying session at Phillip Island was action packed, in no small part due to a red flag with sixteen minutes remaining. It was necessary to pause the session for ten minutes to evacuate Thitipong Warokorn, who had been laid prone by a crash.

The new Phillip Island asphalt has caused excessive degradation to the Moto2 tyres, compromising the safety of the riders, so Race Direction has decided to cut the Australian GP race to just thirteen laps. That means that over thirty riders will be trying to shine in a sprint race.

Absent from events will be series leader Scott Redding, who is out of the race with a broken wrist. Pol Espargarò took pole, ahead of Rabat and Torres.

Jordi Torres, was able to confirm his good performance from practice in the qualifying session. Last year he had to come back from twentieth position at Phillip Island, but tomorrow he will take off from third on the grid. Third for most of the session, he almost lost out on the front row at the end of the session before a push to improve his time. He was just two-tenths of a second off pole.

Nico Terol was just one-tenth slower than his MAPFRE Aspar teammate. The Spaniard was very satisfied with his performance, and looks to have the pace to be part of the leading group if he makes a good start.

3rd Jordi Torres 1.32.769 (26 laps):
“I am very pleased with our findings this weekend. Since yesterday, both our times and feeling are good. It’s a shame that this morning we had a crash when accelerating in the last sector. Fortunately nothing serious became of it and we learned from our mistake. In the afternoon we conducted a very intelligent session, with clear ideas and always in the top positions. We saw that we can still improve a little more in a couple of ways with turning the bike in under acceleration, but still our setup is great. The bike is very stable on fast corners, so tomorrow we will try to play to our strengths. At the end of the session I tried to improve my times, but there was a lot of traffic. I decided on my last lap to go for it despite having a rider using me for a tow, and that’s what allowed me to take third place. Tomorrow’s race will be very short, as supposedly it has been reduced for safety reasons; you have to respect the decision because safety comes first. I guess the start will be a little crazy, but we will try to impose our pace and get to the front.”

8th Nico Terol 1.32.902 (24 laps):
“Although I had expected to finish a little higher up in the standings, I am very pleased with our performance on the second day. I found a great pace throughout, was very comfortable and was very consistent with my times. This pace will help us face the race with confidence. It was a shame not to take a few more tenths off, which would have moved us further up. For example, Jordi Torres finished third and we are very close with our times. I’m happy for him and I hope that tomorrow we conclude a successful weekend. Despite maintaining a high pace, we were lacking that perfect lap. I am calm, I know we’re ready for the race. At this circuit I find it hard to get a good feeling, and last year was 26th on the grid, so starting in eighth position is a breakthrough. The race, with just thirteen laps, will be crazy, but I know if I start well I will be in the leading group.”

Source: Aspar Media