Moto2: Simoncelli snatches Brno pole

The championship leader fought a giant battle for the top spot with Hector Barbera throughout the 45-minute session that began wet, but dried out towards the end.

Predictably times tumbled by the lap as Simoncelli and provisional pole holder Barbera went right to the limit to secure pole. The Italian even went over it, running into the gravel and bouncing off a barrier, before picking up his Gilera and going even quicker on the following lap.

Eventually Simoncelli's final flyer of 2:10.723, a time faster than Casey Stoner managed to take the MotoGP pole in not dissimilar conditions, settled the matter.

Barbera meanwhile, having taken the fight to Simoncelli through the session, eventually got eclipsed by Alex Debon, as the 32-year-old Spaniard made the most of the improving grip in the final seconds of the session.

Mattia Pasini was fourth fastest, ahead of Tomas Luthi and Julian Simon on the KTM.

Championship contender Mika Kallio was a disappointing seventh on the factory KTM while Yuki Takahashi, Lukas Pesek and Alvaro Bautista completed the top ten.

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera   2:10.723
 2.  Alex Debon        Aprilia  2:11.489  + 0.766
 3.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia  2:11.578  + 0.855
 4.  Mattia Pasini     Aprilia  2:12.168  + 1.445
 5.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia  2:12.762  + 2.039
 6.  Julian Simon      KTM      2:13.074  + 2.351
 7.  Mika Kallio       KTM      2:13.698  + 2.975
 8.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda    2:13.944  + 3.221
 9.  Lukas Pesek       Aprilia  2:13.970  + 3.247
10.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia  2:14.577  + 3.854
11.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia  2:14.664  + 3.941
12.  Eugene Laverty    Aprilia  2:14.918  + 4.195
13.  Fabrizio Lai      Gilera   2:15.103  + 4.380
14.  Hector Faubel     Aprilia  2:15.416  + 4.693
15.  Karel Abraham     Aprilia  2:15.659  + 4.936
16.  Hiroshi Aoyama    KTM      2:15.785  + 5.062
17.  R.Locatelli       Gilera   2:15.836  + 5.113
18.  Aleix Espargaro   Aprilia  2:16.552  + 5.829
19.  Federico Sandi    Aprilia  2:17.550  + 6.827
20.  R.Wilairot        Honda    2:18.009  + 7.286
21.  Toni Wirsing      Honda    2:18.764  + 8.041
22.  DT Pradita        Yamaha   2:19.018  + 8.295
23.  Russell Gomez     Aprilia  2:21.402  + 10.679
24.  Manuel Poggiali   Gilera   2:34.770  + 24.047