Moto2: Bautista grabs provisional pole
Alvaro Bautista left it until the final seconds of first qualifying for the 250cc French Grand Prix to grab provisional pole position at Le Mans on Friday
The Spaniard looked set to dominate proceedings on his Aprilia when he led the way for most of the session, but with seven minutes of qualifying remaining fellow Aprilia rider Marco Simoncelli moved himself up to the top - before then improving his best effort.
Bautista kept pushing but could not knock his Italian rival off the top and, in the end, it appeared that the top spot would actually go to Alex Debon.
But despite Debon taking the chequered flag and thinking he had the pole slot in the bag, Bautista had saved his best for last to claim the top position by just more than one tenth of a second.
Debon ended up second, ahead of Simoncelli and Mattia Pasini. Championship leader Mika Kallio could manage no better than tenth.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:38.479 2. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:38.585 + 0.106 3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:38.679 + 0.200 4. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:38.788 + 0.309 5. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1:38.942 + 0.463 6. Julian Simon KTM 1:39.051 + 0.572 7. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 1:39.064 + 0.585 8. Alex Espargaro Aprilia 1:39.184 + 0.705 9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:39.197 + 0.718 10. Mika Kallio KTM 1:39.360 + 0.881 11. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:39.446 + 0.967 12. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1:39.544 + 1.065 13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:39.798 + 1.319 14. R.Wilairot Honda 1:39.965 + 1.486 15. R.Locatelli Gilera 1:40.171 + 1.692 16. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:40.182 + 1.703 17. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:40.293 + 1.814 18. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1:40.455 + 1.976 19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1:41.056 + 2.577 20. Federico Sandi Aprilia 1:41.200 + 2.721 21. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:41.365 + 2.886 22. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:41.626 + 3.147 23. D.T.Pradita Yamaha 1:42.847 + 4.368 24. Russell Gomez Aprilia 1:44.040 + 5.561 25. Chow Ho Wan Aprilia 1:45.918 + 7.439
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments