Yuta Date takes the first pole position of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup in Qatar

The Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup held its first pole position battle of the 2014 season, which marks the start of its campaign, with Yuta Date claiming pole for this first round of the year.

The Japanese rider will be the first pole sitter of this promotional cup, and will start from the first position at the Qatar Circuit, after a difficult official practice session due to the wind, as the gusts caused speed drops and stability problems for his Honda NSF250R in the middle of the corners.

Some riders had problems in those areas and went down, losing control of the front end, as was the case with Fakhrusy Rostam. Date ultimately proved the fastest, showing a fairly consistent pace throughout the entire weekend, but in the battle for pole he made the most of the session to secure the first position with a lap time of 2:14.369.

Also on the front row we will have Ryo Mizuno and Muklada Sarapuech, the rider put in a great session and is one of the points of attention in the promotional cup. All 22 riders finished the qualifying session within 107% of the pole time, and only four seconds separated the first from the last, so this first race is expected to produce many battles.

The Sunday race in Qatar will take place starting at 15:00 (local time, GMT+3) and can be watched on the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup website.

Source | MotoGP Official website