Bradl Earns First Ever Moto2 Pole

Earning his first ever pole position was Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex), the son of former 250cc World Championship runner-up Helmut Bradl. Bradl was fast here last year, but was involved in a collision on the first lap of the first ever Moto2 race when he and Alex de Angelis high-sided in turn three after de Angelis had machine problems. Bradl said he wanted to put that incident behind him and concentrate on this race, which he’ll begin with a slight advantage over Marc Marquez following his lap of 2m, 01.68s.

Marquez (Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter), the 125cc World Champion, was impressive in his Moto2 debut. The young Spaniard made Bradl work for his pole position, while showing that he’d instantly adapted to the larger, Honda-powered four-stroke. The grid position wasn’t that surprising since Marquez has been fast from the start of Moto2 testing. The protégé of Emilio Alzamora was on provisional pole when Bradl stole it from him in the last five minutes. Still, second in his first Moto2 race is heady stuff.

Swiss rider Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) finished .621s behind Marquez to complete the new front row makeup. Starting with this race, the grids of all grand prix classes are three across, which MotoGP has been for some time. It was the gap behind him that was more noteworthy. Luthi had over a second on fourth fastest Yuki Takahashi.

Stefan Bradl, Viessmann Kiefer Racing - Kalex: 1st - 2m, 0.168s
“We found a good set-up in the last test in Jerez and we can continue like this in the beginning of the free practice, so I’m very happy about this. We are really consistent, we are really competitive at the beginning of the practice, also at the end and with the used tyres now in the warm-up, so everything is working quite well at the moment, so, yeah, just make a good start for tomorrow and we will see. Anyway, I think it will be very hard for tomorrow, because the gap is not too big any more, so we have to concentrate. But still the bike is doing a job, I enjoy riding, so I’m looking forward for tomorrow.”

Marc Marquez, Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol – Suter: 2nd - 2m, 0.375s
“The truth is we are really happy. I feel more and more comfortable on the bike, mainly thanks to my mechanics, who are doing an incredible job. To start from the first row in our first Moto2 Grand Prix is a very good result and I will do my best tomorrow. We still have to see how the bike works in race conditions and with a full tank, but I hope I will be able to have a good start. In Moto2 the start is a bit more complicated, but I hope everything goes well. We are gathering experience and that’s the most important thing.”

Thomas Luthi, Interwetten Paddock, Moto2 – Suter: 3rd - 2m, 0.996s
“The basic problem is that I was saving my tyres yesterday, as I didn’t have a big amount. I didn’t know that more tyres were going to be flown in or I would have pushed harder. My lap times compared to yesterday were better, but I was sliding a lot and need to find a solution for the race.”