Le Mans Moto2: Takaa Nakagami grabs maiden pole

All the action was crammed into the opening few minutes, as the rain that had loomed all weekend finally arrived in earnest for the Moto2 session, which began slightly late due to the knock-on delays from the red flag in MotoGP's pre-qualifying practice.

An initial shower eased, suggesting there might be more dry time after all, but the clouds opened properly soon afterwards and the field headed to the pits to wait out the remaining half-hour.

Nakagami was on top with a 1m38.508s for Italtrans when the rain came and was duly able to secure pole by 0.350 seconds over Marc VDS' Scott Redding.

Johann Zarco completed the front row on his home ground, and had the track to himself for quite a while in the wet when he came out to entertain the local crowd.

Jerez winner and championship leader Tito Rabat headed Xavier Simeon and Nico Terol on row three.

Pre-season title favourite Pol Espargaro was left in seventh, followed by Tom Luthi, Mattia Pasini and Mika Kallio.

Pos Rider                Team/Bike          Time       Gap
 1. Takaaki Nakagami     Italtrans Kalex    1m38.508s
 2. Scott Redding        Marc VDS Kalex     1m38.858s  + 0.350s
 3. Johann Zarco         Ioda Suter         1m39.187s  + 0.679s
 4. Esteve Rabat         Pons Kalex         1m39.193s  + 0.685s
 5. Xavier Simeon        SAG Kalex          1m39.296s  + 0.788s
 6. Nicolas Terol        Aspar Suter        1m39.333s  + 0.825s
 7. Pol Espargaro        Pons Kalex         1m39.355s  + 0.847s
 8. Thomas Luthi         Paddock Suter      1m39.437s  + 0.929s
 9. Mattia Pasini        Forward Speed Up   1m39.543s  + 1.035s
10. Mika Kallio          Marc VDS Kalex     1m39.558s  + 1.050s
11. Anthony West         QMMF Speed Up      1m39.571s  + 1.063s
12. Mike di Meglio       JiR Motobi         1m39.599s  + 1.091s
13. Dominique Aegerter   Technomag Suter    1m39.657s  + 1.149s
14. Toni Elias           Avintia Kalex      1m39.721s  + 1.213s
15. Jordi Torres         Aspar Suter        1m39.891s  + 1.383s
16. Marcel Schrotter     SAG Kalex          1m39.994s  + 1.486s
17. Sandro Cortese       Intact Kalex       1m40.011s  + 1.503s
18. Julian Simon         Italtrans Kalex    1m40.013s  + 1.505s
19. Alex de Angelis      Forward Speed Up   1m40.020s  + 1.512s
20. Ricard Cardus        Forward Speed Up   1m40.173s  + 1.665s
21. Louis Rossi          Tech 3             1m40.281s  + 1.773s
22. Kyle Smith           Avintia Kalex      1m40.284s  + 1.776s
23. Yuki Takahashi       Tady Moriwaki      1m40.369s  + 1.861s
24. Axel Pons            Pons Kalex         1m40.487s  + 1.979s
25. Hafizh Syahrin       Petronas Kalex     1m40.498s  + 1.990s
26. Danny Kent           Tech 3             1m40.613s  + 2.105s
27. Steven Odendaal      Arginano Speed Up  1m40.665s  + 2.157s
28. Ratthapark Wilairot  Gresini Suter      1m40.746s  + 2.238s
29. Alberto Moncayo      Arginano Speed Up  1m40.793s  + 2.285s
30. Simone Corsi         Forward Speed Up   1m40.815s  + 2.307s
31. Gino Rea             Rea FTR            1m40.861s  + 2.353s
32. Randy Krummenacher   Technomag Suter    1m41.222s  + 2.714s
33. Doni Tata Pradita    Gresini Suter      1m42.036s  + 3.528s
34. Rafid Topan Sucipto  QMMF Speed Up      1m42.312s  + 3.804s