Moto2: Elias beats Redding to Moto2 pole
Moto2 championship leader Toni Elias took pole for the first time since the season opener by winning a tight battle with young British rider Scott Redding at Misano
Although Elias has five wins - including three in a row in the last three rounds - and a 67-point advantage under his belt, the former MotoGP rider had only taken one pole so far this year, for the series' maiden race at Losail.
He led the way for most of the session in his Gresini team's home nation today, but Redding nipped ahead by 0.06 seconds in the final minutes.
Elias - who is back in the San Carlo colours of Gresini's MotoGP arm for this weekend - responded with a 1m38.991s to beat Marc VDS Suter rider Redding by just 0.044s, and with both men then hitting traffic on their next attempts, pole was settled in Elias' favour.
Julian Simon (Aspar Suter) and Jules Cluzel (Forward Suter) will join them on the front row.
Elias' nearest title rival Andrea Iannone had to park his Speed Up in the pits with mechanical issues before the end of the session, but hung on to fifth ahead of JiR's Simone Corsi.
Series returnees Alex de Angelis and Mattia Pasini took seventh and ninth, split by Technomag-CIP Suter rider Shoya Tomizawa.
De Angelis had lost his Scot ride when the team ran short of funds, and had temporarily returned to MotoGP in place of the injured Hiroshi Aoyama at Interwetten Honda. The Italian has now returned to Moto2 with the JiR team - which recently split with Pasini, who is back as a wildcard only for his home round.
Another rider change this weekend is the return of Xavier Simeon to deputise for the injured Fonsi Nieto at the Holiday Gym squad. Nieto suffered a nasty heel injury in his crash in Indianapolis qualifying, and then had a severe reaction to his treatment plus complications in surgery. He still hopes to race again before the end of the season.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Toni Elias Moriwaki 1m38.991s 2. Scott Redding Suter 1m39.035s + 0.044s 3. Julian Simon Suter 1m39.280s + 0.289s 4. Jules Cluzel Suter 1m39.413s + 0.422s 5. Andrea Iannone Speed Up 1m39.426s + 0.435s 6. Simone Corsi Motobi 1m39.664s + 0.673s 7. Alex de Angelis Motobi 1m39.686s + 0.695s 8. Shoya Tomizawa Suter 1m39.778s + 0.787s 9. Mattia Pasini Suter 1m39.856s + 0.865s 10. Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up 1m39.857s + 0.866s 11. Hector Faubel Suter 1m40.045s + 1.054s 12. Dominique Aegerter Suter 1m40.047s + 1.056s 13. Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 1m40.075s + 1.084s 14. Claudio Corti Suter 1m40.101s + 1.110s 15. Thomas Luthi Moriwaki 1m40.101s + 1.110s 16. Xavier Simeon Moriwaki 1m40.153s + 1.162s 17. Stefan Bradl Suter 1m40.164s + 1.173s 18. Sergio Gadea Pons Kalex 1m40.184s + 1.193s 19. Mike di Meglio Suter 1m40.201s + 1.210s 20. Ferruccio Lamborghini Suter 1m40.290s + 1.299s 21. Alex Baldolini ICP 1m40.523s + 1.532s 22. Michael Ranseder Suter 1m40.531s + 1.540s 23. Yonny Hernandez BQR 1m40.579s + 1.588s 24. Roberto Rolfo Suter 1m40.677s + 1.686s 25. Karel Abraham FTR 1m40.732s + 1.741s 26. Axel Pons Pons Kalex 1m40.751s + 1.760s 27. Robertino Pietri Suter 1m40.880s + 1.889s 28. Raffaele De Rosa Tech 3 1m40.930s + 1.939s 29. Tatsuya Yamaguchi Moriwaki 1m41.074s + 2.083s 30. Lukas Pesek Moriwaki 1m41.147s + 2.156s 31. Valentin Debise ADV 1m41.178s + 2.187s 32. Ratthapark Wilairot Bimota 1m41.269s + 2.278s 33. Niccolo Canepa Bimota 1m41.522s + 2.531s 34. Anthony West MZ 1m41.526s + 2.535s 35. Kenny Noyes Promoharris 1m41.794s + 2.803s 36. Joan Olive FTR 1m41.853s + 2.862s 37. Ricard Cardus Bimota 1m42.061s + 3.070s 38. Mashel Al Naimi BQR 1m42.657s + 3.666s 39. Yannick Guerra Moriwaki 1m42.827s + 3.836s
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