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Moto2: Lorenzo dominant in first qualifying

Reigning 250cc world champion Jorge Lorenzo took a dominant provisional pole position in first qualifying for the 250cc class at Phillip Island today

Lorenzo, who could clinch this year's title with a good finish in Sunday's race, dominated the session, with a succession of times that no-one could match.

After setting a time of 1:35.823 to top the times after five minutes, he lowered it by nearly a second on his next lap to set a time only two other riders would beat by session's end.

But Lorenzo still had more speed in him, slicing another three-quarters of a second away with a 1:34.178 with 10 minutes remaining, a time that would have taken provisional pole.

However, Lorenzo was not yet done, twice more lowering the pole mark with his final effort of 1:33.641 securing the top spot by nearly eight-tenths of a second.

The margin looked like being almost 1.2 seconds, but with a minute remaining Hector Barbera popped up with a 1:34.358 to be the only rider close to Lorenzo's stunning pace.

Next were Lorenzo's two championship rivals, Alex de Angelis and Andrea Dovizioso, both over a second behind Lorenzo, with Marco Simoncelli just behind them in fifth position on the provisional grid.

Hiroshi Aoyama looked set for a better result than where he finished in seventh, twice setting the second fastest time in the first 30 minutes of the session, only able to make a small improvement at the end of the session.

Pos  Rider             Make     Time
 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Aprilia  1:33.641
 2.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia  1:34.358  + 0.717
 3.  Alex de Angelis   Aprilia  1:34.820  + 1.179
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda    1:34.999  + 1.358
 5.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera   1:35.013  + 1.372
 6.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia  1:35.158  + 1.517
 7.  Hiroshi Aoyama    KTM      1:35.311  + 1.670
 8.  Julian Simon      Honda    1:35.333  + 1.692
 9.  Shuhei Aoyama     Honda    1:35.674  + 2.033
10.  Mika Kallio       KTM      1:35.809  + 2.168
11.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia  1:35.879  + 2.238
12.  R. Locatelli      Gilera   1:36.412  + 2.771
13.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda    1:37.115  + 3.474
14.  Dirk Heidolf      Aprilia  1:37.179  + 3.538
15.  Jules Cluzel      Aprilia  1:37.334  + 3.693
16.  Imre Toth         Aprilia  1:37.454  + 3.813
17.  Aleix Espargaro   Aprilia  1:37.819  + 4.178
18.  Karel Abraham     Aprilia  1:38.011  + 4.370
19.  Fabrizio Lai      Aprilia  1:38.075  + 4.434
20.  R. Wilairot       Honda    1:38.241  + 4.600
21.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia  1:38.278  + 4.637
22.  Efren Vazquez     Aprilia  1:39.073  + 5.432
23.  Taro Sekiguchi    Aprilia  1:39.240  + 5.599
24.  Federico Sandi    Aprilia  1:39.976  + 6.335

Not qualified (Outside 107%): 1:40.195

     Rider             Make     Time
     Ho Wan Chow       Aprilia  1:43.075  + 9.434
     Eugene Laverty    Honda    2:01.777  +28.136

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