Valencia Moto2: Pirro and Takahashi lead for Gresini

Michele Pirro and Yuki Takahashi secured first and second place on the grid at Valencia, a fitting qualifying result for the Gresini Racing team who have been dealing with the tragic loss of San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli at the Malaysian MotoGP.

Pirro dedicated his first Moto2 pole position to Simoncelli. The Italian rider secured pole early in the qualifying session, before heavy rain fell on the Spanish circuit.

Marc VDS rider Mika Kallio completes the front row in third, whilst newly crowned Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) will start tomorrow’s race from fourth.

Alex De Angelis (RSM JIR Moto2) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) qualified in fifth and sixth respectively.

Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) qualified in twelfth place, despite still recovering from injury including a broken collarbone.

1. 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 252.9 1’37.067 
2. 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 260.5 1’37.076 0.009 / 0.009
3. 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 265.6 1’37.477 0.410 / 0.401
4. 65 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Kalex 265.0 1’37.870 0.803 / 0.393
5. 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM JIR Moto2 Motobi 261.8 1’37.888 0.821 / 0.018
6. 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 263.7 1’37.963 0.896 / 0.075
7. 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 261.2 1’38.095 1.028 / 0.132
8. 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Tech 3 B Tech 3 261.4 1’38.182 1.115 / 0.087
9. 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 264.3 1’38.496 1.429 / 0.314
10. 3 Simone CORSI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 260.6 1’38.565 1.498 / 0.069
11. 40 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 262.6 1’38.633 1.566 / 0.068
12. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 263.2 1’38.652 1.585 / 0.019
13. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA HP Tuenti Speed Up FTR 264.3 1’38.655 1.588 / 0.003
14. 45 Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 256.9 1’38.703 1.636 / 0.048
15. 18 Jordi TORRES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 260.5 1’38.924 1.857 / 0.221
16. 34 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX FTR 258.9 1’38.936 1.869 / 0.012
17. 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 261.3 1’39.096 2.029 / 0.160
18. 25 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Desguaces La Torre G22 Moriwaki 259.5 1’39.293 2.226 / 0.197
19. 16 Jules CLUZEL FRA NGM Forward Racing Suter 264.1 1’39.309 2.242 / 0.016
20. 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Blusens-STX FTR 255.5 1’39.316 2.249 / 0.007
21. 60 Julian SIMON SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 265.9 1’39.403 2.336 / 0.087
22. 13 Anthony WEST AUS MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 262.3 1’39.442 2.375 / 0.039
23. 9 Kenny NOYES USA Avintia-STX FTR 259.2 1’39.549 2.482 / 0.107
24. 76 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 261.6 1’39.671 2.604 / 0.122
25. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Suter 264.9 1’39.716 2.649 / 0.045
26. 71 Claudio CORTI ITA Italtrans Racing Team Suter 259.1 1’39.743 2.676 / 0.027
27. 4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing Kalex 261.4 1’39.818 2.751 / 0.075
28. 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA NGM Forward Racing Suter 261.8 1’39.849 2.782 / 0.031
29. 54 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Technomag-CIP Suter 254.9 1’40.277 3.210 / 0.428
30. 53 Valentin DEBISE FRA Speed Up FTR 263.0 1’40.368 3.301 / 0.091
31. 64 Santiago HERNANDEZ COL SAG Team FTR 261.1 1’40.441 3.374 / 0.073
32. 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Aeroport de Castello FTR 264.0 1’40.512 3.445 / 0.071
33. 39 Robertino PIETRI VEN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 261.1 1’40.690 3.623 / 0.178
34. 61 Oscar CLIMENT SPA Team Climent MIR Racing 256.2 1’40.953 3.886 / 0.263
35. 82 Elena ROSELL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 254.2 1’42.006 4.939 / 1.053
36. 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda Singha SAG FTR 255.6 1’42.317 5.250 / 0.311
37. 95 Mashel AL NAIMI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 258.3 1’42.627 5.560 / 0.310
38. 96 Nasser Hasan AL MALKI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 255.9 1’43.709 6.642 / 1.082
 
80 Axel PONS SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex   
93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter