Moto2: Lorenzo holds on to Chinese pole
Aprilia rider Jorge Lorenzo maintained his pole position for tomorrow's 250cc Chinese Grand Prix after going even faster in today's final qualifying session
While Lorenzo's Friday time would have been just fast enough to hold onto pole position, Lorenzo went slightly faster with twenty minutes remaining before putting it beyond doubt with three minutes remaining, the time of 2:04.543 nearly three-quarters of a second faster than his closest rival.
Second fastest was Hector Barbera, who along with KTM's Mika Kallio who will start third, set their best lap in the dying seconds of the session.
Unable to improve on his Friday time, Honda rider Julian Simon will start from fourth position, just ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.
The session was interrupted after fifteen minutes when Shi Zhao Huang and Alex de Angelis clashed along the long back straight, Huang losing control of his bike and careering into the fence before coming to rest on the track. Earlier in the session, Yuki Takahashi crashed and aggravated a previous injury.
Speaking on Italian TV channel Italia1, Dr Claudio Costa spoke about the two riders, first commenting on Huang: "It was a very big scare but I think things are fine. At the moment I think it's just contusions. Let's hope more extensive checks won't give unexpected results.
"Takahashi suffered a fracture of his left forearm and broke the plaque that was applied to it after a previous fracture. Now he'll go to Japan where he'll be operated on. A comeback at Mugello would be heroic."
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia 2:04.543 2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.285 + 0.742 3. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.416 + 0.873 4. Julian Simon Honda 2:05.587 + 1.044 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 2:05.595 + 1.052 6. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:05.650 + 1.107 7. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.718 + 1.175 8. Alex de Angelis Aprilia 2:05.938 + 1.395 9. Shuhei Aoyama Honda 2:06.489 + 1.946 10. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:06.778 + 2.235 11. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.914 + 2.371 12. Fabrizio Lai Aprilia 2:07.037 + 2.494 13. Anthony West Aprilia 2:07.711 + 3.168 14. Dirk Heidolf Aprilia 2:07.772 + 3.229 15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:07.792 + 3.249 16. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:07.815 + 3.272 17. R.Wilairot Honda 2:07.892 + 3.349 18. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:08.527 + 3.984 19. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:08.575 + 4.032 20. Jules Cluzel Aprilia 2:08.589 + 4.046 21. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:08.637 + 4.094 22. Eugene Laverty Honda 2:08.713 + 4.170 23. Taro Sekiguchi Aprilia 2:09.106 + 4.563 24. Arturo Tizon Aprilia 2:09.274 + 4.731 25. Shi Zhao Huang Yamaha 2:10.939 + 6.396 26. Jin Xiao Yamaha 2:12.202 + 7.659
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