Provisional 125GP front row for injured Danny Webb
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Danny Webb rode well in free practice despite his broken finger
British teenager Danny Webb shrugged off the pain of a badly damaged left little finger injury to claim a place on the provisional front row of the grid for Sunday’s Malaysia 125GP.
The Aprilia rider, who seriously injured the left small finger in a big high-side crash at Phillip Island earlier this month, clocked a best time of 2.15.365 on his last lap of today’s opening qualifying session.
Webb has been told not to move the finger for six weeks after he underwent a 30-minute operation on the mangled digit in Melbourne. The injury forced him to miss the Australian GP and he is riding today with a splint on the finger to try and keep it straight.
He’s also using a modified glove to help.
His best time was only 0.159s behind 2007 world champion Gabor Talmacsi and 0.689s off provisional pole setter Andrea Iannone.
Webb said: “This is a real big boost for my confidence because I wasn’t sure how the hand would be. I’ve been told to keep the finger straight because I’ve got some tendon damage and too much movement could result in more permanent damage. But I felt good this morning when I was ninth although it was taking a bit of time to get used to riding with only three fingers working the clutch.”
Scott Redding got his first taste of Sepang’s notoriously baking hot conditions today as he finished 11th. Temperatures peaked at 37 degrees during the session and Redding clocked a best time of 2.16.272. Two places further back was 17-year-old Oxfordshire rider Bradley Smith in 13th. He clocked a best time of 2.16.397.
1 Andrea IANNONE ITA I.C. Team Aprilia 2’14.676
2 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia 2’15.206
3 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia 2’15.365
4 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Belson Derbi Derbi 2’15.676
5 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia 2’15.684
6 Joan OLIVE SPA Belson Derbi Derbi 2’15.860
7 7Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 2’15.922
8 2Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones WRB Aprilia 2’16.001
9 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Ajo Motorsport Derbi 2’16.030
10 Stefan BRADL GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing Aprilia 2’16.263
11 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia Junior Aprilia 2’16.272
12 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones WRB Aprilia 2’16.314
13 Bradley SMITH GBR Polaris World Aprilia 2’16.397
14 Alexis MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing Loncin 2’16.517
15 Stevie BONSEY USA Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia 2’16.557
16 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Junior Aprilia 2’16.586
17 Pablo NIETO SPA Onde 2000 KTM KTM 2’16.678
18 Sandro CORTESE GER Emmi – Caffe Latte Aprilia 2’16.731
19 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Onde 2000 KTM KTM 2’16.849
20 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA ISPA KTM Aran KTM 2’17.272
21 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN I.C. Team Aprilia 2’17.418
22 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Motorsport Derbi 2’17.622
23 Jules CLUZEL FRA Loncin Racing Loncin 2’18.296
24 Marco RAVAIOLI ITA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 2’18.303
25 Esteve RABAT SPA Repsol KTM 125cc KTM 2’18.334
26 Cyril CARRILLO FRA FFM Honda GP 125 Honda 2’18.413
27 Adrian MARTIN SPA Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia 2’18.655
28 Robin LASSER GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing Aprilia 2’19.002
29 Jonas FOLGER GER Red Bull MotoGP Academy KTM 2’19.576
30 Hugo VAN DEN BERG NED Degraaf Grand Prix Aprilia 2’19.612
31 Robert MURESAN ROU Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing Aprilia 2’19.688
32 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 2’19.735
33 Enrique JEREZ SPA ISPA KTM Aran KTM 2’19.963
34 Bastien CHESAUX SWI WTR San Marino Team Aprilia 2’20.115
Not classified
93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol KTM 125cc KTM
