Redding secures maiden Moto2 pole

Scott Redding produced a stunning late lap in Moto2 qualifying to take his first ever grand prix pole position.

Marc VDS Racing’s Briton was the only rider to go below 2m11s with a last ditch flier to claim top spot by almost seven tenths of a second from Takaaki Nakagami’s Italtrans Kalex.

Nakagami’s 2m11.266s had looked good enough to earn him qualifying honours, while morning practice pacesetter Pol Espargaro’s session never really got going.

The Spaniard, seeking to make it six Moto2 pole positions in a row, ended up seventh fastest on his Pons Kalex machine but never looked like troubling the front two rows throughout the session.

Redding, by contrast, was flying around the twists and turns of the Texan circuit. Yet he seemed on course to miss out on a front row start altogether as Nicolas Terol and Esteve Rabat improved late on.

But Redding’s heroics in the dying seconds saw him pump in a 2m10.577s lap – demoting Terol to third and dumping Rabat onto the second row.

He will be joined on row two by Dominique Aegerter and Simone Corsi.

Injured frontrunner Thomas Luthi had to abandoned his earlier-than-expected comeback as he was still in too much pain during Friday practice.

Pos  Rider                Team/Bike          Time       Gap
  1.  Scott Redding        Marc VDS Kalex     2m10.577s
  2.  Takaaki Nakagami     Italtrans Kalex    2m11.266s  + 0.689s
  3.  Nicolas Terol        Aspar Suter        2m11.287s  + 0.710s
  4.  Esteve Rabat         Pons Kalex         2m11.383s  + 0.806s
  5.  Dominique Aegerter   Technomag Suter    2m11.606s  + 1.029s
  6.  Simone Corsi         Forward Speed Up   2m11.725s  + 1.148s
  7.  Pol Espargaro        Pons Kalex         2m11.838s  + 1.261s
  8.  Xavier Simeon        SAG Kalex          2m11.859s  + 1.282s
  9.  Mika Kallio          Marc VDS Kalex     2m11.925s  + 1.348s
 10.  Julian Simon         Italtrans Kalex    2m12.001s  + 1.424s
 11.  Anthony West         QMMF Speed Up      2m12.341s  + 1.764s
 12.  Jordi Torres         Aspar Suter        2m12.346s  + 1.769s
 13.  Danny Kent           Tech 3             2m12.399s  + 1.822s
 14.  Marcel Schrotter     SAG Kalex          2m12.529s  + 1.952s
 15.  Randy Krummenacher   Technomag Suter    2m12.579s  + 2.002s
 16.  Toni Elias           Avintia Kalex      2m12.714s  + 2.137s
 17.  Johann Zarco         Ioda Suter         2m12.757s  + 2.180s
 18.  Mike di Meglio       JiR Motobi         2m12.986s  + 2.409s
 19.  Kyle Smith           Avintia Kalex      2m13.014s  + 2.437s
 20.  Sandro Cortese       Intact Kalex       2m13.050s  + 2.473s
 21.  Axel Pons            Pons Kalex         2m13.094s  + 2.517s
 22.  Ricard Cardus        Forward Speed Up   2m13.121s  + 2.544s
 23.  Ratthapark Wilairot  Gresini Suter      2m13.229s  + 2.652s
 24.  Mattia Pasini        Forward Speed Up   2m13.295s  + 2.718s
 25.  Alex de Angelis      Forward Speed Up   2m13.382s  + 2.805s
 26.  Yuki Takahashi       Tady Moriwaki      2m13.863s  + 3.286s
 27.  Louis Rossi          Tech 3             2m14.108s  + 3.531s
 28.  Alberto Moncayo      Arginano Speed Up  2m14.649s  + 4.072s
 29.  Doni Tata Pradita    Gresini Suter      2m14.894s  + 4.317s
 30.  Steven Odendaal      Arginano Speed Up  2m15.321s  + 4.744s
 31.  Rafid Topan Sucipto  QMMF Speed Up      2m18.792s  + 8.215s
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/redding-secures-maiden-moto2-pole

Randy Joseph Lajoie Kevin Paul Lepage William Ashton Lewis Jr Sterling Burton Marlin Mark Anthony Martin