Nico Terol takes Sepang 125cc pole as title rival Johann Zarco struggles to 15th
Nico Terol took a big step closer to the 125cc title by taking his seventh pole of the year at Sepang, as his championship rival Johann Zarco ended up a disastrous 15th on the grid
Zarco has to out-score Terol in Malaysia to keep the title fight alive until the Valencia finale, but he crashed at Turn 11 during qualifying. Although he managed to get his Ajo Derbi back to the pits for repairs, issues continued - particularly with the rear brakes - and he had to stop on track to give the bike some more attention at one stage. Ultimately the best he could manage was 15th.
While Zarco was struggling, Terol was flying again, putting in a late 2m13.579s to beat his Aspar Aprilia team-mate Hector Faubel to pole by 0.015 seconds.
Sandro Cortese completed the front row for Team Germany, with Efren Vazquez (Ajo Derbi), Luis Salom (RW Aprilia) and Jonas Folger (Ajo Aprilia) filling row two.
Behind third row men Maverick Vinales (Blusens Aprilia), Alberto Moncayo (Andalucia Aprilia) and Adrian Martin (Aspar), Danny Kent recovered from a violent morning practice crash to put his Ajo Aprilia in 10th.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Nicolas Terol Aspar Aprilia 2m13.579s 2. Hector Faubel Aspar Aprilia 2m13.594s + 0.015s 3. Sandro Cortese Germany Aprilia 2m13.954s + 0.375s 4. Efren Vazquez Ajo Derbi 2m14.581s + 1.002s 5. Luis Salom RW Aprilia 2m14.682s + 1.103s 6. Jonas Folger Ajo Aprilia 2m14.776s + 1.197s 7. Maverick Vinales Blusens Aprilia 2m15.055s + 1.476s 8. Alberto Moncayo Andalucia Aprilia 2m15.272s + 1.693s 9. Adrian Martin Aspar Aprilia 2m15.304s + 1.725s 10. Danny Kent Ajo Aprilia 2m15.590s + 2.011s 11. Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta Aprilia 2m15.888s + 2.309s 12. Danny Webb Mahindra 2m15.892s + 2.313s 13. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo Derbi 2m15.909s + 2.330s 14. Alexis Masbou Caretta KTM 2m15.965s + 2.386s 15. Johann Zarco Ajo Derbi 2m16.209s + 2.630s 16. Marcel Schrotter Mahindra 2m16.233s + 2.654s 17. Louis Rossi Matteoni Aprilia 2m16.373s + 2.794s 18. Giulian Pedone Phonica Aprilia 2m16.601s + 3.022s 19. Harry Stafford Ongetta Aprilia 2m16.638s + 3.059s 20. Jasper Iwema Ongetta Aprilia 2m16.652s + 3.073s 21. Alessandro Tonucci Italia FMI Aprilia 2m17.180s + 3.601s 22. Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Aprilia 2m17.230s + 3.651s 23. Joan Perello Matteoni Aprilia 2m17.443s + 3.864s 24. Josep Rodriguez Blusens Aprilia 2m17.494s + 3.915s 25. Luigi Morciano Italia FMI Aprilia 2m17.530s + 3.951s 26. Jack Miller Caretta KTM 2m17.550s + 3.971s 27. Brad Binder Andalucia Aprilia 2m17.867s + 4.288s 28. Sturla Fagerhaug WTR-Ten10 Aprilia 2m17.941s + 4.362s 29. Manuel Tatasciore Phonica Aprilia 2m18.237s + 4.658s 30. Arthur Sissis TT Motion Aprilia 2m19.203s + 5.624s 31. Farid Badrul Ajo Derbi 2m19.744s + 6.165s 32. Marco Colandrea WTR-Ten10 Aprilia 2m19.972s + 6.393s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
F1 teams and Pirelli had no warning of “painted” Shanghai track surface
Sainz will have to "survive with what we have" in F1 China sprint
F1 Chinese GP sprint race and qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more
WRC Croatia: Neuville sets the pace to lead title rival Evans
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