Moto2: Bautista takes provisional pole
Alvaro Bautista took provisional pole in the first qualifying session for the 250cc class at Shanghai, despite a late flurry of fast times
Bautista topped the times from a third of the way through the session and was never headed from that point on, setting a best time of 2:05.035 as the session ended, just as three other riders joined him under the 2:06 mark.
KTM's Mika Kallio got closest to Bautista's effort, a third of a second behind, just ahead of Hector Barbera with Thomas Luthi eight-tenths slower than Bautista's effort in fourth place.
Just over a second behind Bautista in fifth place was Mattia Pasini, with Julian Simon and Marco Simoncelli (who topped the times early in the session) a couple of tenths further back.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:05.035 2. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.367 3. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.531 + 0.496 4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.818 5. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.084 6. Julian Simon KTM 2:06.238 + 1.203 7. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:06.337 + 1.302 8. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.675 + 1.640 9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.684 + 1.649 10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.958 + 1.923 11. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:07.179 + 2.144 12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:07.213 + 2.178 13. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:07.316 + 2.281 14. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:07.349 + 2.314 15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:07.831 + 2.796 16. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.885 + 2.850 17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:08.284 + 3.249 18. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:08.938 + 3.903 19. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.028 20. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.474 21. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:11.716 + 6.681 22. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:12.102 + 7.067 23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:14.742 + 9.707
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
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