2015 Qatar Moto2 FP1 Result: Lowes Smashes Pole Record To Lead First Session

Submitted by David Emmett on

Sam Lowes has smashed the existing Moto2 pole record in Qatar, becoming the first man to lap the Losail circuit in under two minutes on a Moto2 bike. Lowes ended the session six tenths of a second ahead of Johann Zarco, while reigning Moto2 champion Tito Rabat took 3rd.

Lowes and Zarco dominated the first session of practice for Moto2, sharing the lead for most of FP1 with exactly the same time. With five minutes to go, Zarco finally took a lead, only to see Lowes smash his time on his very last lap. Rabat was a comfortable 3rd, but could not match the pace of the two leaders.

Tom Luthi finished FP1 in 4th, the Swiss rider nearly 1.6 seconds behind the time set by Lowes, and nearly a second behind Zarco. Times were much closer behind Luthi: Jonas Folger was a tenths slower in 5th, while Sandro Cortese, Franco Morbidelli, Ant West, Alex Rins and Julian Simon were separated by just a quarter of a second. Rins' 9th time marked the best of rookie performances in the Moto2 class, while reigning Moto3 champ Alex Marquez struggled with mechanical issues, only managing the 18th best time.

Results:

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 22 Sam Lowes Speed Up 1'59.717
2 5 Johann Zarco Kalex 2'00.339 0.622 0.622
3 1 Tito Rabat Kalex 2'00.780 1.063 0.441
4 12 Thomas Luthi Kalex 2'01.304 1.587 0.524
5 94 Jonas Folger Kalex 2'01.414 1.697 0.110
6 11 Sandro Cortese Kalex 2'01.644 1.927 0.230
7 21 Franco Morbidelli Kalex 2'01.645 1.928 0.001
8 95 Anthony West Speed Up 2'01.651 1.934 0.006
9 40 Alex Rins Kalex 2'01.675 1.958 0.024
10 60 Julian Simon Speed Up 2'01.685 1.968 0.010
11 19 Xavier Simeon Kalex 2'01.690 1.973 0.005
12 30 Takaaki Nakagami Kalex 2'01.717 2.000 0.027
13 3 Simone Corsi Kalex 2'01.772 2.055 0.055
14 49 Axel Pons Kalex 2'02.180 2.463 0.408
15 4 Randy Krummenacher Kalex 2'02.338 2.621 0.158
16 88 Ricard Cardus Tech 3 2'02.454 2.737 0.116
17 23 Marcel Schrotter Tech 3 2'02.604 2.887 0.150
18 73 Alex Marquez Kalex 2'02.618 2.901 0.014
19 36 Mika Kallio Kalex 2'02.673 2.956 0.055
20 96 Louis Rossi Tech 3 2'02.849 3.132 0.176
21 25 Azlan Shah Kalex 2'02.954 3.237 0.105
22 55 Hafizh Syahrin Kalex 2'03.038 3.321 0.084
23 77 Dominique Aegerter Kalex 2'03.052 3.335 0.014
24 7 Lorenzo Baldassarri Kalex 2'03.553 3.836 0.501
25 10 Thitipong Warokorn Kalex 2'04.093 4.376 0.540
26 66 Florian Alt Suter 2'04.418 4.701 0.325
27 51 Zaqhwan Zaidi Suter 2'05.320 5.603 0.902
28 2 Jesko Raffin Kalex 2'05.835 6.118 0.515
29 70 Robin Mulhauser Kalex 2'07.985 8.268 2.150
39 Luis Salom Kalex
Round Number: 
1
2015
Moto2
Losail, Qatar
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Comments

Trident replied on

I think it is too early. More time is necessary IMO.

Although just for curiosity, I had been comparing his times with Herrin's from last year and they weren't vastly different (yes, Marquez is up approx 2 sec compared to last years' Qatar FP1 so my venture very well may prove dumb). I started looking into it after hearing a couple of startling revelations (to me, a GP novice) about his experience in Moto2 from Herrin in preseason interviews here in the States.

Unlike Herrin, Alex won't get sacked mid-season even if he were to go full-on Melandri.

Trident replied on

Sure. There's a fairly recent interview on "Pit Pass Radio" where he said that every time he went into a corner on the Caterham bike that his faceshield hit the windscreen and they could never get it adjusted where it didn't.

Next is this video where his crew chief makes a crack about grips
COTA Test Day 1 Wrap Up:COTA Test Day 1 Wrap Up: https://youtu.be/fbkwNrKkX-s

macrocephalic replied on

What's Mika Kalio doing 3 seconds off the pace? I know he changed teams, but on the same chassis with the same engine (obviously) I thought he'd be better than that.