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Moto2: Bautista claims Le Mans 250cc pole

Alvaro Bautista claimed his second pole of the year in qualifying for the 250cc race at Le Mans

The Aspar Aprilia rider had a clear 0.4-second margin over reigning champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) in second place, with current points leader Hiroshi Aoyama third on his Scot Honda after leading the session in the middle stages. Jerez winner Aoyama goes into tomorrow's race with a four-point advantage over Bautista.

The pole position was a welcome result for the Aspar team, which has been rocked this weekend by the sudden departure of its former 125cc champion Gabor Talmacsi due to a contractual dispute.

Thomas Luthi will complete the front row in fourth, having made a strong challenge for pole early on before equalling his best ever grid position.

Reigning 125cc champion Mike di Meglio looked like he might claim his first 250cc pole on home ground, but eventually fell back to fifth, ahead of Alex Debon, Raffaele de Rosa and Lukas Pesek.

Pos  Rider                Bike     Time       Gap
 1.  Alvaro Bautista      Aprilia  1m38.270s
 2.  Marco Simoncelli     Gilera   1m38.652s  + 0.382s
 3.  Hiroshi Aoyama       Honda    1m38.682s  + 0.412s
 4.  Thomas Luthi         Aprilia  1m38.796s  + 0.526s
 5.  Mike di Meglio       Aprilia  1m39.003s  + 0.733s
 6.  Alex Debon           Aprilia  1m39.365s  + 1.095s
 7.  Raffaele de Rosa     Honda    1m39.367s  + 1.097s
 8.  Lukas Pesek          Aprilia  1m39.381s  + 1.111s
 9.  Roberto Locatelli    Gilera   1m39.511s  + 1.241s
10.  Hector Faubel        Honda    1m39.517s  + 1.247s
11.  Hector Barbera       Aprilia  1m39.596s  + 1.326s
12.  Ratthapark Wilairot  Honda    1m39.667s  + 1.397s
13.  Mattia Pasini        Aprilia  1m39.896s  + 1.626s
14.  Alex Baldolini       Aprilia  1m40.066s  + 1.796s
15.  Karel Abraham        Aprilia  1m40.462s  + 2.192s
16.  Angel Rodriguez      Aprilia  1m40.620s  + 2.350s
17.  Shoya Tomizawa       Honda    1m40.661s  + 2.391s
18.  Jules Cluzel         Aprilia  1m40.852s  + 2.582s
19.  Imre Toth            Aprilia  1m41.444s  + 3.174s
20.  Valentin Debise      Honda    1m42.391s  + 4.121s
21.  Axel Pons            Aprilia  1m42.654s  + 4.384s
22.  Vladimir Leonov      Aprilia  1m42.812s  + 4.542s
23.  Bastien Chesaux      Honda    1m43.342s  + 5.072s
24.  Aitor Rodriguez      Aprilia  1m44.132s  + 5.862s
25.  Toby Markham         Honda    1m45.322s  + 7.052s

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