125cc: Bradl steals China provisional pole
Stefan Bradl has taken provisional pole in the 125cc class at Shanghai after a last-gasp effort after the chequered flag had fallen
Bradl headed the times in the opening minutes but soon lost out to other riders. Just before the end of the session he set a time good enough for second at that time, but he went again and went 66 thousandths of a second faster, good enough to put him on provisional pole.
Less than a tenth behind him were Bradley Smith and Nicolas Terol, Smith also setting his best time after the chequered flag had fallen, beating Terol's effort which had seen him sitting on provisional pole just before the session ended.
Simone Corsi was fourth fastest, just ahead of reigning 125cc world champion Gabor Talmacsi who set a time with 7 minutes remaining that was good enough for pole at the time but was unable to improve in the closing minutes and fell to fifth. Sergio Gadea was sixth, less than a half a second behind Bradl.
In a session which saw the top three riders separated by less than a tenth of a second, there was little to separate the riders in general, with the top fifteen riders covered by less than 1.1 seconds.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 2:13.218 2. Bradley Smith Aprilia 2:13.275 + 0.057 3. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 2:13.279 + 0.061 4. Simone Corsi Aprilia 2:13.404 + 0.186 5. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 2:13.445 + 0.227 6. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 2:13.574 + 0.356 7. Raffaele De Rosa KTM 2:13.800 + 0.582 8. Mike Di Meglio Derbi 2:13.808 + 0.590 9. Daniel Webb Aprilia 2:13.863 + 0.645 10. Pol Espargaro Derbi 2:14.127 + 0.909 11. Joan Olive Derbi 2:14.157 + 0.939 12. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2:14.168 + 0.950 13. Michael Ranseder Aprilia 2:14.180 + 0.962 14. Stefano Bianco Aprilia 2:14.277 + 1.059 15. Steve Bonsey Aprilia 2:14.287 + 1.069 16. Efren Vazquez Aprilia 2:14.561 + 1.343 17. D. Agerter Derbi 2:14.660 + 1.442 18. Sandro Cortese Aprilia 2:14.843 + 1.625 19. Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 2:15.122 + 1.904 20. Scott Redding Aprilia 2:15.655 + 2.437 21. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 2:15.721 + 2.503 22. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 2:15.735 + 2.517 23. Pere Tutusaus Aprilia 2:15.959 + 2.741 24. Esteve Rabat KTM 2:16.109 + 2.891 25. Pablo Nieto KTM 2:16.152 + 2.934 26. Jules Cluzel Loncin 2:16.354 + 3.136 27. H. van den Berg Aprilia 2:16.625 + 3.407 28. Marc Marquez KTM 2:16.629 + 3.411 29. Robert Muresan Aprilia 2:16.715 + 3.497 30. Robin Lasser Aprilia 2:17.074 + 3.856 31. Alexis Masbou Loncin 2:17.115 + 3.897 32. R. Lacalendola Aprilia 2:17.584 + 4.366 33. R. Krummenacher KTM 2:18.049 + 4.831 34. Louis Rossi Honda 2:19.498 + 6.280
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