The starting grid for the 125cc category in the Portuguese GP will see Marc Márquez, on the front row as he set the fourth fastest time today, on the far of the front row. A little further back on the fifth row is Esteve Rabat, who made a few mistakes was hit by a very tight classification and will start 17th. His teammate Scott Redding, had technical problems and could only do six laps, he will be 24th on the grid, two in front of Cameron Beaubier.
Julián Simón once again dominated the qualifying and set a time of 1’45.199 seconds, 857 thousandths faster than Márquez. The Repsol rider improved his time in the morning by almost 8 tenths, thanks to some improvements to the setup on his KTM which his team made between the two sessions. The harvest was a front row start, something that will give Márquez the opportunity to enjoy a privileged position and have a good race.
His teammate, Cameron Beaubier, suffered worse luck. He many problems finding the right setup for the track in Portugal, when he finally felt comfortable the traffic and a few small mistakes meant that he could not do a complete fastest lap. Tomorrow he starts 26th, although he is optimistic knowing that the setup is finally a good one.
Esteve Rabat will be on the fifth row, 7th today. The Repsol rider slowly improved the fell of his Aprilia RSA, and was half a second faster than in the morning. However while he was on his final attempt to set a fastest lap he was thrown off his seat on corner 7, and he lost a few decisive tenths. In fact there are only 8 tenths separating 13 riders, clearly showing how tight this category is.
Behind him is a battling Scott Redding, who after just a few seconds out on the track had to return to the pits with engine problems. The Repsol rider was practically the whole qualifying session watching his team working against the clock to repair his bike, with less than ten minutes left and with no time to refine the setup on his Aprilia, he went back out to do five laps and finish in 24th position.
Marc Márquez, 1’46.056 secs, 34 laps, 142 km. >> Audio
“The truth is that today went better than expected because in the morning it took me some time to find a good feel on the bike and get a good pace. But before qualification the team and I did some good work and the setup improved. In the afternoon I was able to find a fast pace riding alone and that is important for the race. And I was 4th, which is not at all bad. Tomorrow it is possible that Julio [Simón] will get away from us all because he is very strong, so I will try to ride in the chasing group and fight to get on the podium. We have to make a few small changes that we will use in the warm-up, but if they do not work we will try to have a good race with what we have”.
Esteve Rabat, 1’46.884 secs, 37 laps, 155 km. >> Audio
“This morning in practice things did not go too bad although I made a few mistakes and so I was only 16th. Qualification was a bit tougher and I took some time to find the pace but then things went better. I tried to go really fast and I had a good partial time but on the back straight I almost fell when I opened the throttle and I lost a few tenths. That made drop a bit in the classification, it is very tight today, between 5th and where I am there is just half a second”.
Scott Redding, 1’48.316 secs, 22 laps, 92 km. >> Audio
“The morning went well. The bike was working correctly although the set up was quite bad because the bike was moving around a lot, above all coming out of corners. Then it seemed that the engine was fine in qualification but on the first lap I had engine problems. I went back to the pits and the team worked on it. I went back out with ten minutes left and I did five laps, doing what I could. The setup was a bit better but I really needed more time to get the bike handling better coming out of turns”.
Cameron Beaubier, 1’48.465 secs, 35 laps, 146 km. >> Audio
“This morning I did not feel too good on the bike and not at the beginning of the qualification either. Then we made a change to the rear end, the suspension, and the bike felt much better but I came across a lot of traffic and it was impossible to find a good pace. I almost fell a couple of times because of other riders and then I made a couple of mistakes or two and so I am quite angry with. But I hope to have a good start tomorrow and then in the race go faster than I was able to today”.
