Moto2: Debon grabs Jerez 250cc pole
Category veteran Alex Debon will start from pole position for tomorrow's Jerez round of the 250cc series
The 33-year-old led a Spanish one-two at his home event, ahead of Qatar winner Hector Barbera. With Julian Simon and Jorge Lorenzo on pole for the 125cc and MotoGP races respectively, the Spanish crowd will see a compatriot starting first for all three grand prix races.
Reigning champion Marco Simoncelli mounted a strong challenge for pole, but ended up having his third crash of the weekend. Still yet to score in 2009 after missing Qatar due to a motocross injury and retiring in Japan, Simoncelli rebounded from accidents in both practice sessions to lead the majority of this afternoon's qualifying session.
But he was beaten by Debon in the closing minutes and then fell while trying to respond. Simoncelli immediately got up and waved to the crowd to confirm that he had escaped further injury.
Barbera pushed Simoncelli back to third soon afterwards, with championship leader Alvaro Bautista taking the final front row position.
Qatar hero Jules Cluzel impressed again with fifth, ahead of long-time provisional pole-sitter Hiroshi Aoyama and reigning 125cc champion Mike di Meglio.
Apart from Simoncelli's incident, the biggest crash of the session befell Ratthapark Willairot. The Thai rider's Honda appeared to leak fluids onto its rear wheel, causing a relatively low-speed accident in which Willairot landed awkwardly on his left ankle. He limped away from the bike, before being met by the medics and taken away on a stretcher.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Alex Debon Aprilia 1m43.028s 2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1m43.317s + 0.289s 3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1m43.376s + 0.348s 4. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1m43.451s + 0.423s 5. Jules Cluzel Aprilia 1m43.521s + 0.493s 6. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1m43.591s + 0.563s 7. Mike di Meglio Aprilia 1m43.792s + 0.764s 8. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1m43.864s + 0.836s 9. Hector Faubel Honda 1m43.891s + 0.863s 10. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 1m44.058s + 1.030s 11. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1m44.252s + 1.224s 12. Raffaele de Rosa Honda 1m44.484s + 1.456s 13. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1m44.515s + 1.487s 14. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1m44.734s + 1.706s 15. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1m44.818s + 1.790s 16. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1m44.872s + 1.844s 17. Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1m45.752s + 2.724s 18. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1m45.857s + 2.829s 19. Imre Toth Aprilia 1m46.017s + 2.989s 20. Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia 1m47.069s + 4.041s 21. Axel Pons Aprilia 1m47.181s + 4.153s 22. Bastien Chesaux Honda 1m47.823s + 4.795s 23. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 1m48.244s + 5.216s 24. Valentin Debise Honda 1m48.385s + 5.357s 25. Ivan Maestro Aprilia 1m49.082s + 6.054s 26. Toby Markham Honda 1m51.558s + 8.530s
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