Moto2: Simoncelli secures pole
Marco Simoncelli has grabbed pole position for Sunday's 250cc grand prix at the Motegi circuit in Japan
Mika Kallio set a mark ten minutes into the session of 1:52.050, which despite repeated attempts by himself and his challengers, remained at the top for most of the session until Simoncelli went over half a second faster with eight minutes remaining with a time of 1:51.473, securing pole position.
The last minute saw frantic action as Hiroshi Aoyama finally beat teammate Kallio's time to move into second position, Kallio falling to seventh as provisional polesitter Alex Debon, Alvaro Bautista, Hector Faubel and Julian Simon went faster as the chequered flag fell.
But Kallio was still on track, and responded to move back up to fourth position. Yukio Takahashi, headed for MotoGP next year, completed the second row in eighth position.
After being third fastest in Friday's qualifying, Hector Barbera didn't set a time in today's session and will start the race from twelfth position, making his chase of championship leader Simoncelli more difficult.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:51.473 2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:51.719 + 0.246 3. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:51.758 + 0.285 4. Mika Kallio KTM 1:51.765 + 0.292 5. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:51.821 + 0.348 6. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:51.973 + 0.500 7. Julian Simon KTM 1:52.033 + 0.560 8. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:52.197 + 0.724 9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1:52.228 + 0.755 10. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1:52.259 + 0.786 11. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:52.464 + 0.991 12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:53.130 + 1.657 13. Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1:53.289 + 1.816 14. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1:53.356 + 1.883 15. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:53.496 + 2.023 16. Takumi Takahashi Honda 1:53.660 + 2.187 17. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:54.276 + 2.803 18. Simone Grotzkyj Gilera 1:54.688 + 3.215 19. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha 1:55.015 + 3.542 20. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia 1:55.675 + 4.202 21. Daniel Arcas Aprilia 1:56.283 + 4.810 22. Kazuki Watanabe Yamaha 1:56.587 + 5.114 23. Yuuki Ito Yamaha 1:57.053 + 5.580 24. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:57.115 + 5.642 25. Takumi Endoh Yamaha 1:57.451 + 5.978
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