Nico Terol takes sixth 125cc pole of the year in Indianapolis GP qualifying
Nico Terol dominated qualifying for the 125cc Indianapolis Grand Prix to take his sixth pole position of the season
The 22-year-old Spaiard hit the front for good at the midway point with a lap of 1m49.465s and then chipped away at his own mark on every subsequent tour, the Aspar Aprilia rider improving to a 1m48.199s time by the session's end.
For most of the 40 minutes, it appeared that Terol's closest challenger would be Danny Kent, who led early on and was a steady 0.5s adrift of the world championship leader.
Instead though, it was Kent's Ajo team-mate Johann Zarco who took his Derbi into second spot with a late effort to knock the British rider back.
Zarco could only look on, however, as Czech Grand Prix winner Sandro Cortese launched his Team Germany Aprilia into second right at the death and pushed Zarco and Maverick Vinales (Blusens Aprilia) back to third and fourth places.
Despite the closeness of the trio, they were all 0.720s or further back from Terol's pole time.
Kent still managed a career-best fifth on his Aprilia while Terol's veteran team-mate Hector Faubel was next up, ahead of Efren Vazquez (Ajo Derbi), Jonas Folger (Ajo Aprilia), Sergio Gadea (Blusens Aprilia) and Alexis Masbou, who made the top 10 for the first time this year on his Caretta KTM.
There were crashes for Niklas Ajo (TT Aprilia), Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Harry Stafford (Ongetta Aprilia), who will start 15th, 19th and 30th. Danny Webb was another crasher in the final minute of the session on his Mahindra.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Nico Terol Aspar Aprilia 1m48.199s 2. Sandro Cortese Germany Aprilia 1m48.919s + 0.720s 3. Johann Zarco Ajo Derbi 1m48.939s + 0.740s 4. Maverick Vinales Blusens Aprilia 1m48.991s + 0.792s 5. Danny Kent Ajo Aprilia 1m49.256s + 1.057s 6. Hector Faubel Aspar Aprilia 1m49.324s + 1.125s 7. Efren Vazquez Ajo Derbi 1m49.490s + 1.291s 8. Jonas Folger Ajo Aprilia 1m49.608s + 1.409s 9. Sergio Gadea Blusens Aprilia 1m49.919s + 1.720s 10. Alexis Masbou Caretta KTM 1m49.994s + 1.795s 11. Miguel Oliveira Andalucia Aprilia 1m50.133s + 1.934s 12. Jakob Kornfeil Ongetta Aprilia 1m50.345s + 2.146s 13. Simone Grotzki Phonica Aprilia 1m50.549s + 2.350s 14. Adrian Martin Aspar Aprilia 1m50.600s + 2.401s 15. Niklas Ajo TT Motion Aprilia 1m50.604s + 2.405s 16. Luigi Morciano Italia FMI Aprilia 1m50.859s + 2.660s 17. Marcel Schrotter Mahindra 1m50.906s + 2.707s 18. Louis Rossi Matteoni Aprilia 1m51.022s + 2.823s 19. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo Derbi 1m51.232s + 3.033s 20. Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Aprilia 1m51.672s + 3.473s 21. Danny Webb Mahindra 1m51.763s + 3.564s 22. Francesco Mauriello WTR-Ten10 Aprilia 1m52.204s + 4.005s 23. Sturla Fagerhaug WTR-Ten10 Aprilia 1m52.401s + 4.202s 24. Jasper Iwema Ongetta Aprilia 1m52.498s + 4.299s 25. Alessandro Tonucci Italia FMI Aprilia 1m52.661s + 4.462s 26. Joan Perello Matteoni Aprilia 1m53.291s + 5.092s 27. Brad Binder RW Aprilia 1m53.447s + 5.248s 28. Giulian Pedone Phonica Aprilia 1m53.898s + 5.699s 29. Peter Sebestyen Caretta KTM 1m53.992s + 5.793s 30. Harry Stafford Ongetta Aprilia 1m55.623s + 7.424s 31. Alberto Moncayo Andalucia Aprilia No time
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