Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

125cc: Marquez secures ninth 125cc pole

Marc Marquez clinched his ninth pole of the season in 125cc qualifying at Motegi

The Spaniard fell to third in the championship when he was taken out at the first corner at Aragon a fortnight ago, but he gave himself the best possible chance of regaining ground by taking pole in Japan with a 0.417-second cushion over new points leader Nico Terol.

Terol is followed by his Aspar Aprilia team-mate Bradley Smith, with Marquez's Ajo Derbi team-mate Sandro Cortese completing the front row.

Aragon winner and title contender Pol Espargaro has had a tough weekend so far. After crashing twice in Friday practice, he lacked pace in qualifying and had to sit out the final part of the session with technical problems. That left him only seventh on the grid, behind top home rider Tomoyoshi Koyama and Esteve Rabat.

Simone Grotzkyj qualified a career-best eighth but crashed without injury at the end of the session. Newcomer Tommaso Gabrielli also fell, suffering a ferocious high-side at the final corner. The Italian was able to walk away despite the violence of his landing.

Red Bull Rookies Cup runner-up Danny Kent has joined the Lambretta team for the weekend and qualified 16th - the highest position the new bike has achieved all season.

Pos  Rider                Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Marc Marquez         Derbi      1m58.030s
 2.  Nicolas Terol        Aprilia    1m58.447s  + 0.417s
 3.  Bradley Smith        Aprilia    1m59.026s  + 0.996s
 4.  Sandro Cortese       Derbi      1m59.102s  + 1.072s
 5.  Tomoyoshi Koyama     Aprilia    1m59.209s  + 1.179s
 6.  Esteve Rabat         Aprilia    1m59.660s  + 1.630s
 7.  Pol Espargaro        Derbi      1m59.873s  + 1.843s
 8.  Simone Grotzkyj      Aprilia    1m59.991s  + 1.961s
 9.  Alberto Moncayo      Aprilia    2m00.177s  + 2.147s
10.  Efren Vazquez        Derbi      2m00.249s  + 2.219s
11.  Jonas Folger         Aprilia    2m00.345s  + 2.315s
12.  Randy Krummenacher   Aprilia    2m00.595s  + 2.565s
13.  Danny Webb           Aprilia    2m00.634s  + 2.604s
14.  Luis Salom           Aprilia    2m01.015s  + 2.985s
15.  Adrian Martin        Aprilia    2m01.083s  + 3.053s
16.  Danny Kent           Lambretta  2m01.109s  + 3.079s
17.  Takehiro Yamamoto    Honda      2m01.285s  + 3.255s
18.  Johann Zarco         Aprilia    2m01.411s  + 3.381s
19.  Marco Ravaioli       Lambretta  2m01.660s  + 3.630s
20.  Jakub Kornfeil       Aprilia    2m01.684s  + 3.654s
21.  Marcel Schrotter     Honda      2m01.763s  + 3.733s
22.  Jasper Iwema         Aprilia    2m02.071s  + 4.041s
23.  Louis Rossi          Aprilia    2m02.240s  + 4.210s
24.  Sturla Fagerhaug     Aprilia    2m02.309s  + 4.279s
25.  Sasuke Shinozaki     Yamaha     2m02.521s  + 4.491s
26.  Hikari Ookubo        Honda      2m02.816s  + 4.786s
27.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin  Aprilia    2m03.316s  + 5.286s
28.  Syunya Mori          Honda      2m03.592s  + 5.562s
29.  Lorenzo Savadori     Aprilia    2m04.109s  + 6.079s
30.  Yuma Yahagi          Honda      2m04.619s  + 6.589s
31.  Luca Marconi         Aprilia    2m05.921s  + 7.891s
32.  Tommaso Gabrielli    Aprilia    2m14.113s  + 16.083s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article 125cc: Espargaro wins, Marquez taken out
Next article 125cc: Marquez returns to top step in 125cc

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe