Moto2: Simon on pole for Sepang Moto2

Elias (Gresini Moriwaki) leads Simon by 81 points in the championship with four rounds to go, so the reigning 125cc champion needs to out-score former MotoGP man Elias by at least seven points in Malaysia to prolong the title fight.

Simon was the early pacesetter in the session, before Elias had a spell in front. But he was pushed back as first Aspar Suter's Simon returned to pole, then Alex de Angelis - who had been quickest in both practice sessions on his JiR Motobi - improved their times.

Elias still looked set for third until Interwetten Moriwaki's Thomas Luthi grabbed the spot in the closing moments.

Roby Rolfo was fifth on the Italtrans STR Suter, ahead of Speed Up rider Andrea Iannone.

Karel Abraham maintained his strong Motegi pace to qualify seventh, whereas eighth was a relatively disappointing result for Scott Redding given his superb recent form.

De Angelis' JiR team-mate Simone Corsi failed to set a time at all after crashing on his first lap. Other riders to fall were Alex Debon, who still qualified 10th, Mashel Al Naimi and local wildcard Mohamad Zamri Baba.

Pos  Rider                  Bike         Time       Gap
 1.  Julian Simon           Suter        2m08.562s
 2.  Alex de Angelis        Motobi       2m08.754s  + 0.192s
 3.  Thomas Luthi           Moriwaki     2m08.860s  + 0.298s
 4.  Toni Elias             Moriwaki     2m08.863s  + 0.301s
 5.  Roberto Rolfo          Suter        2m08.920s  + 0.358s
 6.  Andrea Iannone         Speed Up     2m09.004s  + 0.442s
 7.  Karel Abraham          FTR          2m09.187s  + 0.625s
 8.  Scott Redding          Suter        2m09.335s  + 0.773s
 9.  Michael Ranseder       Suter        2m09.409s  + 0.847s
10.  Alex Debon             FTR          2m09.429s  + 0.867s
11.  Dominique Aegerter     Suter        2m09.430s  + 0.868s
12.  Claudio Corti          Suter        2m09.489s  + 0.927s
13.  Jules Cluzel           Suter        2m09.563s  + 1.001s
14.  Alex Baldolini         ICP          2m09.587s  + 1.025s
15.  Gabor Talmacsi         Speed Up     2m09.714s  + 1.152s
16.  Fonsi Nieto            Moriwaki     2m09.746s  + 1.184s
17.  Hector Faubel          Suter        2m09.794s  + 1.232s
18.  Yuki Takahashi         Tech 3       2m09.852s  + 1.290s
19.  Mike di Meglio         Suter        2m09.879s  + 1.317s
20.  Raffaele De Rosa       Tech 3       2m09.900s  + 1.338s
21.  Sergio Gadea           Pons Kalex   2m09.959s  + 1.397s
22.  Stefan Bradl           Suter        2m09.988s  + 1.426s
23.  Ratthapark Wilairot    Bimota       2m10.059s  + 1.497s
24.  Axel Pons              Pons Kalex   2m10.129s  + 1.567s
25.  Kenny Noyes            Promoharris  2m10.194s  + 1.632s
26.  Anthony West           MZ           2m10.444s  + 1.882s
27.  Yonny Hernandez        BQR          2m10.566s  + 2.004s
28.  Joan Olive             Promoharris  2m10.885s  + 2.323s
29.  Valentin Debise        Adv          2m10.971s  + 2.409s
30.  Javier Fores           Bimota       2m11.069s  + 2.507s
31.  Mohamad Zamri Baba     Moriwaki     2m11.289s  + 2.727s
32.  Kazuki Watanabe        Suter        2m11.351s  + 2.789s
33.  Vladimir Ivanov        Moriwaki     2m11.496s  + 2.934s
34.  Robertino Pietri       Suter        2m11.972s  + 3.410s
35.  Yannick Guerra         Moriwaki     2m12.253s  + 3.691s
36.  Ferruccio Lamborghini  Moriwaki     2m12.645s  + 4.083s
37.  Mashel Al Naimi        BQR          2m12.952s  + 4.390s
38.  Hiromichi Kunikawa     Bimota       2m13.458s  + 4.896s
39.  Simone Corsi           Motobi       3m20.426s  + 1m11.864s