Moto2: Aoyama claims his first pole of '09
250cc championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama finally took his first pole position of the 2009 season in qualifying at Misano
The Scot Honda rider produced a 1m38.867s lap right at the end of the session to beat Hector Barbera (Pepe World Aprilia) by just 0.008 seconds.
To make the result even sweeter for Aoyama, his main title rival Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Aprilia) struggled throughout the session and will line up only eighth on the grid, as the Spaniard continued his recent run of poor qualifying performances.
Reigning champion Marco Simoncelli, who is hunting for a third straight victory to continue his late charge back into title contention, was quickest for most of the session before Aoyama and Barbera pushed him back to third. Fellow home rider Mattia Pasini completed the front row.
Mike di Meglio was fifth quickest, ahead of Alex Debon, Hector Faubel and the frustrated Bautista.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1m38.867s 2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1m38.875s + 0.008s 3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1m39.038s + 0.171s 4. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1m39.068s + 0.201s 5. Mike di Meglio Aprilia 1m39.397s + 0.530s 6. Alex Debon Aprilia 1m39.416s + 0.549s 7. Hector Faubel Honda 1m39.602s + 0.735s 8. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1m39.825s + 0.958s 9. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1m39.915s + 1.048s 10. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1m39.969s + 1.102s 11. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1m39.995s + 1.128s 12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1m40.040s + 1.173s 13. Jules Cluzel Aprilia 1m40.066s + 1.199s 14. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1m40.128s + 1.261s 15. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1m40.136s + 1.269s 16. Raffaele de Rosa Honda 1m40.832s + 1.965s 17. Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1m41.429s + 2.562s 18. Valentin Debise Honda 1m41.903s + 3.036s 19. Balazs Nemeth Aprilia 1m42.092s + 3.225s 20. Axel Pons Aprilia 1m42.158s + 3.291s 21. Bastien Chesaux Honda 1m42.957s + 4.090s 22. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 1m42.992s + 4.125s 23. Imre Toth Aprilia 1m43.079s + 4.212s 24. Toby Markham Aprilia 1m43.919s + 5.052s 25. Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia 1m45.357s + 6.490s
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