Moto2: Simoncelli consolidates Estoril pole
Marco Simoncelli took his first pole position of the year at Estoril, consolidating yesterday's provisional pole ahead of tomorrow's 250cc Portuguese Grand Prix
The Metis Gilera rider was fastest for most of the 45-minute session, with only rivals Alvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) and Mattia Pasini (Polaris World) holding top spot briefly
In the end, Simoncelli set a time of 1:40.257, almost three tenths faster than Bautista in second and a further tenth ahead of Pasini - who had a crash at the beginning of the session - in third.
Mika Kallio qualified fourth, followed by Yuki Takahashi, Hiroshi Aoyama, and Alex Debon in seventh. The latter also crashed just after the riders were shown the chequered flag.
Thomas Luthi was eighth-quickest, Hector Barbera ninth, and Hector Faubel tenth.
Fabrizio Lai, who qualified 18th, also suffered a high-speed crash with four minutes of the session to go.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:40.257 2. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:40.554 + 0.297 3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:40.653 + 0.396 4. Mika Kallio KTM 1:40.772 + 0.515 5. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:41.063 + 0.806 6. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:41.228 + 0.971 7. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:41.280 + 1.023 8. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1:41.356 + 1.099 9. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1:41.370 + 1.113 10. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:41.470 + 1.213 11. Julian Simon KTM 1:41.820 + 1.563 12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:41.841 + 1.584 13. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1:42.080 + 1.823 14. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:42.179 + 1.922 15. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 1:42.265 + 2.008 16. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1:42.360 + 2.103 17. R.Wilairot Honda 1:42.472 + 2.215 18. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:42.574 + 2.317 19. R.Locatelli Gilera 1:42.813 + 2.556 20. Federico Sandi Aprilia 1:43.288 + 3.031 21. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1:43.297 + 3.040 22. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:44.932 + 4.675 23. D.T.Pradita Yamaha 1:45.402 + 5.145 24. Russell Gomez Aprilia 1:46.051 + 5.794 25. Chow Ho Wan Aprilia 1:46.594 + 6.337 26. Sergio Batista Honda 1:57.196 + 16.939
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