Moto2: Simoncelli grabs provisional pole

In a three-way battle, the Italian Gilera rider, who had swapped the top position with Hector Barbera for much of the session, just snatched pole from the Spaniard on his last lap. Simoncelli:s lap of 1:23.953 was just 0.18sec ahead of the Team Toth Aprilia rider.

The other man in with a shout in the final moments was Mika Kallio, who currently leads the championship by one point from Simoncelli.

The KTM rider's best attempt, also on his last lap, was 0.64secs slower than pole, however and the Finn was forced to settle for third, ahead of his teammate Hiroshi Aoyama.

The surprise of the session came from Italian rider Fabrizio Lai, who qualified fifth on his Campetella Racing Gilera.

Hector Faubel was sixth ahead of Julian Simon on the Repsol KTM. Yuki Takahashi, Aleix Espargaro and Alex Debon completed the top ten.

Mattia Pasini, who won the opening round of the championship in Qatar, was the only significant faller in the session. The Italian ended the session 15th after dropping his Polaris World Aprilia on the exit of the Omega Curve.

Pos Rider                Bike        Time         Gap
 1. Marco Simoncelli     Gilera      1:23.953
 2. Hector Barbera       Aprilia     1:24.134  +0.181
 3. Mika Kallio          KTM         1:24.590  +0.637
 4. Hiroshi Aoyama       KTM         1:24.679  +0.726
 5. Fabrizio Lai         Gilera      1:24.703  +0.750
 6. Hector Faubel        Aprilia     1:24.709  +0.756
 7. Julian Simon         KTM         1:24.747  +0.794
 8. Yuki Takahashi       Honda       1:24.785  +0.832
 9. Aleix Espargaro      Aprilia     1:24.802  +0.849
10. Alex Debon           Aprilia     1:24.975  +1.022
11. Alvaro Bautista      Aprilia     1:25.007  +1.054
12. Thomas Luthi         Aprilia     1:25.215  +1.262
13. Lukas Pesek          Aprilia     1:25.260  +1.307
14. Roberto Locatelli    Gilera      1:25.407  +1.454
15. Mattia Pasini        Aprilia     1:25.783  +1.830
16. Eugene Laverty       Aprilia     1:25.840  +1.887
17. Karel Abraham        Aprilia     1:25.855  +1.902
18. Manuel Poggiali      Gilera      1:25.889  +1.936
19. Ratthapark Wilairot  Honda       1:25.926  +1.973
20. Alex Baldolini       Aprilia     1:26.197  +2.244
21. Federico Sandi       Aprilia     1:26.736  +2.783
22. Russell Gomez        Aprilia     1:27.745  +3.792
23. Doni Tata Pradita    Yamaha      1:27.817  +3.864
24. Imre Toth            Aprilia     1:28.038  +4.085
25. Toni Wirsing         Honda       1:29.080  +5.127
26. Alen Gyorfi          Honda       1:30.458  +6.505
27. Chow Ho Wan          Aprilia     1:31.757  +7.804