FIM 125cc Grand Prix World Championship Jerez, Spain May 2, 2009 Qualifying Results: 1. Julian SIMON (Aprilia), 1:48.237 2. Bradley SMITH (Aprilia), 1:48.434 3. Andrea IANNONE (Aprilia), 1:48.519 4. Marc MARQUEZ (KTM), 1:48.931 5. Sergio GADEA (Aprilia), 1:48.955 6. Dominique AEGERTER (Derbi), 1:49.237 7. Scott REDDING (Aprilia), 1:49.310 8. Danny WEBB (Aprilia), 1:49.353 9. Sandro CORTESE (Derbi), 1:49.362 10. Pol ESPARGARO (Derbi), 1:49.400 17. Cameron BEAUBIER (KTM), 1:50.256 More, from a press release issued by KTM: Front row start for Marquez in Jerez 125cc GP Red Bull KTM Moto Sport’s Marc Marquez, clearly at home in front of his home crowd in Jerez, Spain, finished fourth in qualifying for Sunday’s 125 cc GP on Saturday to secure a front row position on the grid. It was the first time in his young career that the 16-year-old Spanish rider will be on the front row and he is understandably excited that he has achieved it in front of his home crowd. “I am very excited because I am on the front row in a GP for the first time, and now I can’t wait to go out and race. I really want to do well here at my home GP, but I know that I must not get too over-excited, because too much excitement can be treacherous! Yesterday we struggled a bit with our front fork, so we put a new one in for today and with the settings that we figured out at the texts in March eventually worked really well,” he added. Marquez adapts to windy conditions Marquez said he tried to adapt his riding style to cope with the winds that prevailed at the Spainsh circuit. “I shifted my body weight as much as possible towards the front of the bike to make it turn,” he said. “It worked quite well even though the wind gusts pushed me around here and there and everywhere.” Beaubier hoping to be in the points on Sunday The team’s second factory rider, young American Cameron Beaubier, a former Red Bull Rookie and riding his first year with Red Bull KTM Moto Sport, finished in seventeenth place. “It was really windy this afternoon,” the 16-year-old American said. “We fine-tuned the set-up for the final session, but due to the conditions, I wasn’t able to go much faster. In fact, my lap times during the February tests here were a little faster. But never mind, I feel good and I am ready to race. I hope for a good start and to finally break into the point rankings which I missed so narrowly at the last race in Japan!” Bartol satisfied with team effort Factory team boss Harald Bartol was also satisfied with his machinery and riders. “Practice was really good for us, and being on the front row of the grid is certainly a highlight,” Bartol said. “Obviously, Marc is very motivated at his home GP, but at the same time, it’s remarkable how he withstands the pressure at his young age. But I am also impressed with Beaubier’s performance. He was doing whatever was possible with very windy track conditions without taking unnecessary risks. We completed all practice sessions without any problems on our bikes, which also boosts our confidence for a good race tomorrow! Riders were at last able to complete a qualifying practice after rain had washed it out in the two GPs so far held, in Qatar and in Japan. This season the class has only one qualifying session instead of the two held in previous seasons. They faced almost perfect conditions on the famous Spanish circuit although they did have to content with the strong winds that affected the lighter bikes more than the other classes. More, from a press release issued by Haojue Racing: The Chinese Haojue team continued its development programme at the bwin.com Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez today, with Michael Ranseder qualifying for tomorrow’s 125cc GP race on the 4.423 km circuit. The Austrian rider put his proven experience and skill to good use to qualify within the required 107 per cent of the fastest qualifier, but his young British team mate, Matt Hoyle, riding in his first year in the GP class, just failed to make the cut. Haojue team director Garry Taylor knows that improvements must be made; “The honeymoon period is over for us now and we need to get our heads down and make some real improvements in the next few GP races. “Everyone knew it would be hard in this ultra-competitive class, but we are very concerned that we are still as much at 17kph down on top speed. We hoped to be far closer to the top runners on top speed and power by this time in the development programme. Our engine designers Jan Witteveen and Franco Moro are very aware of the problem and are working hard to overcome it. We also clearly have a reliability problem which we are working on. “Our performance is certainly no reflection on the ability and commitment of our two riders, who are both contributing massively to the development programme. “The whole team’s enthusiasm and the support of Haojue remain firm and we are all fully-committed to the success of this exiting and demanding project. But we need to resolve these problems very quickly if we are to show a real improvement.”