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Gresini's Michele Pirro and Yuki Takahashi lead Moto2 grid as Stefan Bradl is confirmed as champion

Gresini Racing earned a poignant one-two on the Valencia Moto2 grid with Michele Pirro and Yuki Takahashi, as Stefan Bradl wrapped up the 2011 championship through Marc Marquez's absence

Although Bradl's title rival Marquez had announced on Friday that he would not be fit to race at Valencia following his Sepang qualifying crash, his team left the door open to a late recovery, leaving Bradl uncertain whether he really could celebrate the championship or not.

But with Marquez sitting out qualifying and confirming that his optic nerve injury would not allow him to ride at all this weekend, Bradl can go into tomorrow's season finale knowing his points tally cannot be beaten and the title is sealed.

The Valencia qualifying session saw rain very early on, and the Gresini pair timed their runs perfectly to grab first and second - an emotional result a fortnight after the team's MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli lost his life in a crash in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Mika Kallio joins Pirro and Takahashi on the front row for Marc VDS, with Bradl grabbing fourth with his pre-rain flying lap, ahead of Alex de Angelis (JIR) and Sepang winner Thomas Luthi (Interwetten).

The frontrunner most seriously wrong-footed by the change in conditions was Andrea Iannone, who will start 25th on the Speed Master Suter.

Pos  Rider                  Team/Bike            Time       Gap
 1.  Michele Pirro          Gresini Moriwaki     1m37.067s
 2.  Yuki Takahashi         Gresini Moriwaki     1m37.076s  + 0.009s
 3.  Mika Kallio            Marc VDS Suter       1m37.477s  + 0.410s
 4.  Stefan Bradl           Kiefer Kalex         1m37.870s  + 0.803s
 5.  Alex de Angelis        JIR Motobi           1m37.888s  + 0.821s
 6.  Thomas Luthi           Interwetten Suter    1m37.963s  + 0.896s
 7.  Dominique Aegerter     Technomag-CIP Suter  1m38.095s  + 1.028s
 8.  Xavier Simeon          Tech 3               1m38.182s  + 1.115s
 9.  Mike di Meglio         Tech 3               1m38.496s  + 1.429s
10.  Simone Corsi           Ioda FTR             1m38.565s  + 1.498s
11.  Aleix Espargaro        Pons Kalex           1m38.633s  + 1.566s
12.  Bradley Smith          Tech 3               1m38.652s  + 1.585s
13.  Pol Espargaro          Speed Up FTR         1m38.655s  + 1.588s
14.  Scott Redding          Marc VDS Suter       1m38.703s  + 1.636s
15.  Jordi Torres           Aspar Suter          1m38.924s  + 1.857s
16.  Esteve Rabat           Blusens FTR          1m38.936s  + 1.869s
17.  Mattia Pasini          Ioda FTR             1m39.096s  + 2.029s
18.  Alex Baldolini         G22 Moriwaki         1m39.293s  + 2.226s
19.  Jules Cluzel           Forward Suter        1m39.309s  + 2.242s
20.  Yonny Hernandez        Blusens FTR          1m39.316s  + 2.249s
21.  Julian Simon           Aspar Suter          1m39.403s  + 2.336s
22.  Anthony West           MZ                   1m39.442s  + 2.375s
23.  Kenny Noyes            Avintia FTR          1m39.549s  + 2.482s
24.  Max Neukirchner        MZ                   1m39.671s  + 2.604s
25.  Andrea Iannone         Speed Master Suter   1m39.716s  + 2.649s
26.  Claudio Corti          Italtrans Suter      1m39.743s  + 2.676s
27.  Randy Krummenacher     Kiefer Kalex         1m39.818s  + 2.751s
28.  Raffaele de Rosa       Forward Suter        1m39.849s  + 2.782s
29.  Kenan Sofuoglu         Technomag-CIP Suter  1m40.277s  + 3.210s
30.  Valentin Debise        Speed Up FTR         1m40.368s  + 3.301s
31.  Santiago Hernandez     SAG FTR              1m40.441s  + 3.374s
32.  Joan Olive             Castello FTR         1m40.512s  + 3.445s
33.  Robertino Pietri       Italtrans Suter      1m40.690s  + 3.623s
34.  Oscar Climent          Climent Mir          1m40.953s  + 3.886s
35.  Elena Rosell           Aspar Suter          1m42.006s  + 4.939s
36.  Ratthapark Wilairot    SAG FTR              1m42.317s  + 5.250s
37.  Mashel Al Naimi        QMMF Moriwaki        1m42.627s  + 5.560s
38.  Nasser Hasan Al Malki  QMMF Moriwaki        1m43.709s  + 6.642s
39.  Axel Pons              Pons Kalex
40.  Marc Marquez           Catalunya Suter

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