Moto2: Bautista keeps top spot at Assen
Alvaro Bautista retained pole position in second qualifying at Assen, as the 250cc riders also found it hard to improve on their Thursday times in today's session
As had been the case in the 125cc session earlier on, the windy conditions were not conducive to rapid times.
Although Bautista was again the fastest man, the Aspar Aprilia rider was 0.082 seconds slower than he had managed yesterday as he secured his fifth pole of the year.
Hector Barbera and Marco Simoncelli were again Bautista's closest rivals, but this time Simoncelli was the quicker of the duo. His 1:39.854 today was not enough to beat Barbera's Thursday time though, so the Gilera rider will remain third.
Alex Debon leapt to fourth on the Lotus Aprilia with his final lap despite falling earlier in the session. He was unhurt and able to nurse his bike back to the pits and rejoin for the final minutes.
His compatriot Hector Faubel had a similar incident, crashing at the same point and also managing to rejoin despite tumbling through the gravel.
Debon's late improvement knocked his teammate Aleix Espargaro down to fifth, ahead of Thomas Luthi.
Championship leader Mika Kallio will start back in 11th on the Red Bull KTM.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Alvaro Bautista Mapfre Aspar Team 1:39.592 21 2. Marco Simoncelli Metis Gilera 1:39.854 + 0.262 21 3. Alex Debon Lotus Aprilia 1:40.059 + 0.467 19 4. Hector Barbera Team Toth Aprilia 1:40.441 + 0.849 20 5. Thomas Luthi Emmi - Caffe Latte 1:40.588 + 0.996 22 6. Roberto Locatelli Metis Gilera 1:40.759 + 1.167 19 7. Aleix Espargaro Lotus Aprilia 1:40.788 + 1.196 22 8. Hiroshi Aoyama Red Bull KTM 250 1:40.914 + 1.322 22 9. Mika Kallio Red Bull KTM 250 1:40.935 + 1.343 20 10. Mattia Pasini Polaris World 1:40.936 + 1.344 22 11. Hector Faubel Mapfre Aspar Team 1:40.972 + 1.380 16 12. Julian Simon Repsol KTM 250cc 1:41.573 + 1.981 20 13. Yuki Takahashi JiR Team Scot 250 1:41.651 + 2.059 19 14. Fabrizio Lai Campetella Racing 1:41.721 + 2.129 19 15. Ratthapark Wilairot Thai Honda PTT SAG 1:41.946 + 2.354 22 16. Manuel Poggiali Campetella Racing 1:42.095 + 2.503 18 17. Alex Baldolini Matteoni Racing 1:42.121 + 2.529 19 18. Eugene Laverty Blusens Aprilia 1:42.943 + 3.351 16 19. Lukas Pesek Auto Kelly - CP 1:43.254 + 3.662 6 20. Imre Toth Team Toth Aprilia 1:44.203 + 4.611 19 21. Frederik Watz Jaap Kingma Racing 1:44.481 + 4.889 16 22. Russel Gomez Blusens Aprilia 1:44.639 + 5.047 20 23. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia 1:45.400 + 5.808 22
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
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