Zarco Takes Pole In Germany

Jul 11, 2015
2 min read

Johann Zarco will start tomorrow's Moto2 Grand Prix of Germany from pole position after a sensational lap of 1:24.044 halfway through the session saw the Frenchman cement his position as the man to beat this weekend. The Ajo Motorsport rider had gone to the top of the time sheets fairly early on and continued to chip away at his own fastest times. His best effort saw him dick under the existing pole record from 203 by over half-a-second.

His position atop the qualifying order wasn't sure fire however. A barnstorming late lap from Xavier Simeon on the Gresini Kalex saw him go 2nd quickest and just 0.080s off of the pole man.

Franco Morbidelli came into qualifying having topped the final free practice session this morning, but couldn't quite repeat that performance in qualifying. The Italian did manage 3rd though, which equals his best qualifying result achieved at the Grand Prix of Valencia last year. He is in the best position he's had to score his maiden podium tomorrow morning.

Tom Luthi was a decent 4th, with Simone Corsi completing the top five as he gets set to start his 200th career Grand Prix. Wouldn't he love to celebrate the milestone with a podium tomorrow?

Tito Rabat had to settle for 6th having looked as it was to be he that would be Zarco's main threat. The Spaniard's race pace does look very strong however, so all is not lost just yet. This is the only race on the calendar that the Marc VDS rider is yet to score a podium finish however, and this qualifying result may just dent his confidence a little.

Sandro Cortese took top German honours in 7th after the Dynavolt rider found himself locked onto the back of Rabat on his flying lap. He starts just ahead of Jonas Folger.

Sam Lowes suffered his worst qualifying performance of the year, the Briton managing 9th. This is surprising given his pace on Friday. He'll need to find something with the set-up in tomorrow's warm-up session or else travelling further up the field could prove a futile task.

Mika Kallio completed the top ten.

Florian Alt did not take part in qualifying after complaining of dizziness following his FP3 crash. It remains to be seen if he will start the race.

QP Top 10:

1st Johann Zarco, Ajo Motorsport Kalex, 1:24.044

2nd Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex, 1:24.133

3rd Franco Morbidelli, Italtrans Racing Team Kalex, 1:24.291

4th Tom Luthi, Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex, 1:24.403

5th Simone Corsi, Athina Forward Racing Team Kalex, 1:24.499

6th Tito Rabat, EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex, 1:24.507

7th Sandro Cortese, Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex, 1:24.515

8th Jonas Folger, AGR Team Kalex, 1:24.618

9th Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing, 1:24.661