French MotoGP: Bradley Smith to start 125 race from second

Britain’s Bradley Smith will begin tomorrow’s French 125GP from second on the grid.

The rider from Oxfordshire did manage to improve on his Friday time by 0.07secs but it wasn’t enough to know Sergio Gadea and his Aprilia off the pole spot even though the Spaniard didn’t manage to improve on his time from Friday.

And it will be an all Aprillia front row for the start of the 125 race with Stefan Bradl and Simone Corsi’s first qualifying session times enough to secure them third and fourth places respectively.

Robin Lasser was the first rider to take a tumble after tagging the back of the motorcycle in front of him.

Bradley Smith topped the timesheets after six minutes with a 1:45.028, but the times at this point were still a good two and a half minutes slower than Sergio Gadea’s provisional pole time from yesterday afternoon.

Andrea Iannone was the first rider to beat his best time from yesterday down in 13th place. But it was Bradley Smith who was still at the top now posting a 1:44.375 on the Polaris World Aprilia and he then beat this with a 1:44.001 as he pushed to try and claim his fourth podium of the season.

Mike di Meglio, lying in second today and fastest in free practice this morning, low-sided his Derbi after 18 minutes and was left hobbling away.

Danny Webb was the first Brit to improve on yesterday’s qualifying time as he posted a 1:45.291 leaving him 20th at that point. On the next lap the 17-year-old improved again to push himself up to17th as he recorded a 1:45.027.

Smith improved on his Friday time on his 14th lap. On his next lap he had to abort a quick one as he got caught up in traffic but was in time to try once again before the chequered flag was shown. He didn’t manage to improve on his previous earlier lap, but Scott Redding did manage to push himself three places further up the grid on his last flying lap to start 12th.

Webb, still sore after his massive crash yesterday, will start tomorrow’s race from 15th.

French MotoGP 125 qualifying two results (not overall):

1 Bradley SMITH GBR Polaris World APRILIA 1’43.540
2 Sandro CORTESE GER Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 1’43.811
3 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones WRB APRILIA 1’44.116
4 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones WRB APRILIA 1’44.123
5 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar Team APRILIA 1’44.210
6 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Ajo Motorsport DERBI 1’44.312
7 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team APRILIA 1’44.387
8 Stefan BRADL GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing APRILIA 1’44.598
9 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Belson Derbi DERBI 1’44.602
10 Esteve RABAT SPA Repsol KTM 125cc KTM 1’44.679
11 Joan OLIVE SPA Belson Derbi DERBI 1’44.761
12 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia Junior APRILIA 1’44.793
13 Stevie BONSEY USA Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 1’44.852
14 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN ISPA KTM Aran KTM 1’44.864
15 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 1’44.874
16 Michael RANSEDER AUT I.C. Team APRILIA 1’44.893
17 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Onde 2000 KTM KTM 1’44.945
18 Andrea IANNONE ITA I.C. Team APRILIA 1’45.006
19 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol KTM 125cc KTM 1’45.250
20 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN I.C. Team APRILIA 1’45.273
21 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA ISPA KTM Aran KTM 1’45.361
22 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Junior APRILIA 1’45.454
23 Stefano BIANCO ITA S3+ WTR San Marino Team APRILIA 1’45.470
24 Alexis MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing LONCIN 1’45.786
25 Hugo VAN DEN BERG NED Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 1’45.864
26 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Motorsport DERBI 1’46.015
27 Pere TUTUSAUS SPA Bancaja Aspar Team APRILIA 1’46.437
28 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 1’46.569
29 Steven LE COQUEN FRA Villiers Team Competition HONDA 1’46.645
30 Robert MURESAN ROU Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing APRILIA 1’47.212
31 Louis ROSSI FRA FFM Honda GP 125 HONDA 1’47.330
32 Cyril CARRILLO FRA FFM Honda GP 125 HONDA 1’47.392
33 Pablo NIETO SPA Onde 2000 KTM KTM 1’47.538
34 Valentin DEBISE FRA Racing Motoclub Circuit D’Albi KTM 1’48.350
35 Roberto LACALENDOLA ITA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 1’48.473
36 Robin LASSER GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing APRILIA 1’48.604
37 Gioele PELLINO ITA Loncin Racing LONCIN 1’49.372
38 Tobias SIEGERT GER Adac Nordbayern e.v. APRILIA 1’50.506