Qualifying practice for the Qatar Grand Prix took place on a dirty track this afternoon after light rainfall this morning and high winds made it a difficult quest for the opening pole position of the season. Despite the tricky conditions the extra competitive edge of qualifying saw the lap times improve again and the final ten minutes of the session saw an intense battle for top spot between Rabat, Cortese and Nakagami, with Rabat beating the previous pole record here (Bradl/2.00.168/2011) with a lap of 2.00.081 to take the honour.
MAPFRE Aspar rider Jordi Torres was involved in a nasty incident at the end of the session when he ran into the back of Cortese after the German had shut off the throttle in the middle of the track. Kallio then collided with Cortese's stricken bike and suffered the biggest impact, Torres thankfully escaping unhurt but with his best lap ruined. However, having already improved on yesterday's best by seven tenths he qualified sixteenth on the grid, from where he will look to mount an attack from in the early stages of tomorrow night's race. His team-mate Nico Terol enjoyed his best laps at the end of the session and qualified 21st.
16th Jordi Torres 2.01.111 (17 laps):
“We continued to improve the set-up of the bike today and I felt more comfortable, which had a good effect on our pace. I spent most of the time lapping alone but the wind was particularly strong during qualifying and with us already struggling with my size and weight in terms of top speed, it didn't help. We are constantly evolving though and each day that goes by here I have a better feeling. We could have perhaps gone a bit quicker at the end but another rider decided to shut off the throttle in a dangerous place and when I went to pass him he closed the line and I couldn't avoid the crash. Luckily I got away with a few bumps and bruises.”
21st Nico Terol 2.01.319 (15 laps):
“We have made small steps forward in every session so far but in qualifying we went backwards. It is annoying because myself and the team are working hard but we are still not finding the right way forward with the new bike. The wind aggravated our situation tonight so now we need to try our best to pick the right setting for the race, make a good start and fight. I am sure we can turn this situation around. We have to keep working hard and try to enjoy riding the bike again.”
Mapfre Aspar Press Release
