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Moto2: Iannone takes pole, Debon injured

Andrea Iannone confirmed his dominant free practice form by taking pole position for the Moto2 Dutch TT at Assen, but the Italian's task was made easier after Alex Debon suffered an unfortunate accident early in the session

Having just set the fastest time at the beginning of qualifying, Debon was forced to run wide through the quick Ramshoek corner and found himself running over grass and kerbing on the exit. This meant that he was unable to engage the brakes enough to avoid hitting what appeared to be a slow-moving Ratthapark Wilairot. The ensuing impact was enough to break Debon's right collarbone.

Such was the Spaniard's early pace on the FTR that his fastest lap time wasn't bettered by Iannone for half the session. And then only after a second big shunt caused a red flag when Gabor Talsmacsi crashed out unhurt, but with his Speed Up bike lying prone on the racing line.

Axel Pons also suffered a big accident later in the session, lying in agony on-track for several minutes before being taken to the medical centre.

In the end Iannone improved his time in the final moments to secure pole with a 1m39.092s ahead of Wilairot, whose eventful session ended with him securing his first front-row start.

Debon was classified third, but is not expected to start, while Shoya Tomizawa was fourth fastest, recovering well from his own shunt in the morning's practice session.

Thomas Luthi was the fastest Moriwaki rider in fifth, just ahead of the similarly equipped championship leader Toni Elias. Julian Simon was seventh, Fonzi Nieto eighth and Claudio Corti ninth. His team-mate and Silverstone winner Jules Cluzel completed the top ten.

Pos  Rider                Bike          Time       Gap
 1.  Andrea Iannone       Speed Up     1m39.092s
 2.  Ratthapark Wilairot  Bimota       1m39.307s  + 0.215s
 3.  Alex Debon           FTR          1m39.584s  + 0.492s
 4.  Shoya Tomizawa       Suter        1m39.664s  + 0.572s
 5.  Thomas Luthi         Moriwaki     1m39.671s  + 0.579s
 6.  Toni Elias           Moriwaki     1m39.711s  + 0.619s
 7.  Julian Simon         Suter        1m39.755s  + 0.663s
 8.  Fonsi Nieto          Moriwaki     1m39.777s  + 0.685s
 9.  Claudio Corti        Suter        1m39.798s  + 0.706s
10.  Jules Cluzel         Suter        1m39.829s  + 0.737s
11.  Lukas Pesek          Moriwaki     1m39.856s  + 0.764s
12.  Karel Abraham        FTR          1m39.990s  + 0.898s
13.  Yuki Takahashi       Tech 3       1m40.025s  + 0.933s
14.  Roberto Rolfo        Suter        1m40.043s  + 0.951s
15.  Mattia Pasini        Motobi       1m40.085s  + 0.993s
16.  Stefan Bradl         Suter        1m40.225s  + 1.133s
17.  Mike di Meglio       Suter        1m40.232s  + 1.140s
18.  Anthony West         MZ           1m40.246s  + 1.154s
19.  Simone Corsi         Motobi       1m40.262s  + 1.170s
20.  Scott Redding        Suter        1m40.313s  + 1.221s
21.  Arne Tode            Suter        1m40.413s  + 1.321s
22.  Yonni Hernandez      BQR          1m40.427s  + 1.335s
23.  Gabor Talmacsi       Speed Up     1m40.475s  + 1.383s
24.  Valentin Debise      ADV          1m40.578s  + 1.486s
25.  Sergio Gadea         Pons Kalex   1m40.659s  + 1.567s
26.  Alex de Angelis      Scot         1m40.660s  + 1.568s
27.  Raffaele de Rosa     Tech 3       1m40.676s  + 1.584s
28.  Alex Baldolini       ICP          1m40.708s  + 1.616s
29.  Vladimir Ivanov      Moriwaki     1m40.716s  + 1.624s
30.  Xavier Simeon        Moriwaki     1m40.762s  + 1.670s
31.  Niccolo Canepa       Scot         1m40.888s  + 1.796s
32.  Axel Pons            Pons Kalex   1m40.968s  + 1.876s
33.  Dominique Agerter    Suter        1m41.006s  + 1.914s
34.  Kenny Noyes          Promo Harris 1m41.218s  + 2.126s
35.  Hector Faubel        Suter        1m41.316s  + 2.224s
36.  Robertino Pietri     Suter        1m41.368s  + 2.276s
37.  Joan Olive           Promo Harris 1m41.953s  + 2.861s
38.  Vladimir Leonov      Suter        1m41.967s  + 2.875s
39.  Bernat Martinez      Bimota       1m42.643s  + 3.551s
40.  Mashel Al Naimi      BQR          1m43.072s  + 3.980s

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