Moto2: Bautista maintains pole position
Alvaro Bautista held on to pole position in the 250cc class at Shanghai after improving his fastest time in the closing minutes of today's qualifying session
The Spaniard, like most of the field, failed to improve on their Friday efforts for most of the 45 minute session. But as the final five minutes approached, riders began to improve their times, with Bautista taking nearly two-tenths off his Friday best.
In fact, his fastest time on Friday would have still been good enough for pole, with Barbera's second-fastest time in today's session three-tenths slower than what Bautista achieved yesterday.
KTM's Mika Kallio was unable to improve his time, but it was still good enough for third position on the grid, ahead of Julian Simon and Marco Simoncelli who both improved their times in the final couple of minutes of the session.
Completing the third row will be Thomas Luthi, Mattia Pasini, currently second in the championship, and 2003 250cc champion Manuel Poggiali.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:04.882 2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.317 + 0.435 3. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.520 4. Julian Simon KTM 2:05.651 + 0.769 5. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:05.724 + 0.842 6. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.971 7. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.237 8. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:06.192 + 1.310 9. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:06.216 + 1.334 10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.245 + 1.363 11. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.276 + 1.394 12. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:06.279 + 1.397 13. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.283 + 1.401 14. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:06.428 + 1.546 15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:06.559 + 1.677 16. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:07.083 + 2.201 17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:07.101 + 2.219 18. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.114 + 2.232 19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:07.665 + 2.783 20. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.181 21. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:10.254 + 5.372 22. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.627 23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:11.624 + 6.742
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