125cc: Di Meglio on wet provisional pole
Championship leader Mike di Meglio took a dominant provisional pole position in a wet first qualifying session for the 125cc Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island
Di Meglio went to the top of the times eight minutes into the session and never relinquished top spot from then on, repeatedly lowering his times as he led his rivals by more than two seconds at times.
His final effort after the chequered flag fell of a 1:48.319 left him three-quarters of a second ahead of his closest rival, Briton Danny Webb, with Michael Ranseder third fastest 1.2 seconds behind di Meglio.
Almost two seconds off the pace in fourth was Stefan Bradl, closely followed by Esteve Rabat, who crashed in the closing minutes while on a lap that may have challenged for the top two spots, Lorenzo Zanetti and Stevie Bonsey just behind.
Several riders fell during the session, including Pol Espargaro, who was second fastest when he fell but ended the session eleventh, Bradley Smith, who finished sixteenth fastest and Marc Marquez, who fell early in the session but got back on track later in the session to finish 21st.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Mike di Meglio Derbi 1:48.319
2. Daniel Webb Aprilia 1:49.093 + 0.774
3. Michael Ranseder Aprilia 1:49.537 + 1.218
4. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1:50.232 + 1.913
5. Esteve Rabat KTM 1:50.374 + 2.055
6. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 1:50.379 + 2.060
7. Steve Bonsey Aprilia 1:50.420 + 2.101
8. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 1:50.670 + 2.351
9. Sandro Cortese Aprilia 1:50.851 + 2.532
10. H. van den Berg Aprilia 1:50.893 + 2.574
11. Pol Espargaro Derbi 1:51.140 + 2.821
12. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1:51.229 + 2.910
13. Simone Corsi Aprilia 1:51.276 + 2.957
14. Raffaele de Rosa KTM 1:51.595 + 3.276
15. Joan Olive Derbi 1:51.904 + 3.585
16. Bradley Smith Aprilia 1:52.174 + 3.855
17. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 1:52.320 + 4.001
18. Robert Muresan Aprilia 1:52.354 + 4.035
19. Scott Redding Aprilia 1:52.828 + 4.509
20. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1:52.899 + 4.580
21. Marc Marquez KTM 1:52.955 + 4.636
22. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia 1:53.345 + 5.026
23. Jules Cluzel Loncin 1:53.522 + 5.203
24. D. Aegerter Derbi 1:53.777 + 5.458
25. Robin Lasser Aprilia 1:53.980 + 5.661
26. R. Krummenacher KTM 1:54.323 + 6.004
27. B. Leigh-Smith Honda 1:54.570 + 6.251
28. Alexis Masbou Loncin 1:54.693 + 6.374
29. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 1:55.124 + 6.805
30. Marco Ravaioli Aprilia 1:55.175 + 6.856
31. Efren Vazquez Aprilia 1:55.373 + 7.054
32. Adrian Martín Aprilia 1:55.418 + 7.099
Not qualified (outside 107%):
Jed Metcher Honda 1:56.369 + 8.050
Rhys Moller Honda 1:56.388 + 8.069
Cyril Carrillo Honda 1:57.224 + 8.905
Pablo Nieto KTM 1:57.562 + 9.243
Enrique Jerez KTM 2:00.747 +12.428
Jake Horne Honda 2:02.803 +14.484
Brad Gross Yamaha 2:02.992 +14.673
Share Or Save This Story
How Caterham’s success is rooted in continual evolution
From Benetton to Gucci: Is Briatore closing the circle at Enstone?
MotoGP proposes four safety solutions following Barcelona drama
WRC Rally Japan: Evans makes road position count to maintain lead
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments