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Sepang Moto2: Pol Espargaro takes pole in quiet session

Pol Espargaro beat Scott Redding and champion-elect Marc Marquez to pole position in an unusually-paced Moto2 qualifying session at Sepang

Rising temperature and fading grip meant there was no late shoot-out, with the majority of the fastest times being set in the opening 20 minutes.

Pons Kalex rider Espargaro was one of the few to improve in the final minutes, but he was already on provisional pole when he became the first man to dip into the 2m06s bracket.

Redding (Marc VDS Kalex) and Marquez (Molau Suter), in contrast, both set their fastest times on only their third tour of the track.

Redding's 2m07.399s, which put him top after eight minutes, proved good enough for second come the chequered flag.

Marquez sealed third in similar fashion, ending the session six tenths down on Espargaro.

The former effectively needs only to finish with decent points in order to seal this year's Moto2 crown.

The opposite is true of the championship third-place man Andrea Iannone, who struggled at Motegi and fared poorly again, qualifying just 11th.

In his absence the second row of the grid was claimed by Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Kalex), Johann Zarco (JIR Motobi) and Tech 3's Bradley Smith, riding with two broken toes on his left foot.

The odd conditions also led to several crashes, including Toni Elias and Nico Terol.

The latter at least had the comfort of being 17th fastest when he fell - and with precious few improvements his fall only cost him three spots.

Elias crashed in the opening minutes, and will therefore start down in 28th.

Pos  Rider                  Team/Bike              Time       Gap
 1.  Pol Espargaro          Pons Kalex             2m06.962s
 2.  Scott Redding          Marc VDS Kalex         2m07.399s  + 0.437s
 3.  Marc Marquez           Monlau Suter           2m07.566s  + 0.604s
 4.  Takaaki Nakagami       Italtrans Kalex        2m07.617s  + 0.655s
 5.  Johann Zarco           JIR Motobi             2m07.672s  + 0.710s
 6.  Bradley Smith          Tech 3                 2m07.721s  + 0.759s
 7.  Esteve Rabat           Pons Kalex             2m07.774s  + 0.812s
 8.  Thomas Luthi           Paddock Suter          2m07.832s  + 0.870s
 9.  Alex de Angelis        Forward FTR            2m07.849s  + 0.887s
10.  Dominique Aegerter     Technomag-CIP Suter    2m07.872s  + 0.910s
11.  Andrea Iannone         Speed Master Speed Up  2m08.021s  + 1.059s
12.  Simone Corsi           Ioda FTR               2m08.225s  + 1.263s
13.  Julian Simon           Avintia Suter          2m08.327s  + 1.365s
14.  Mike di Meglio         Kiefer Kalex           2m08.417s  + 1.455s
15.  Mika Kallio            Marc VDS Kalex         2m08.599s  + 1.637s
16.  Ratthapark Wilairot    Gresini Suter          2m08.675s  + 1.713s
17.  Axel Pons              Pons Kalex             2m08.703s  + 1.741s
18.  Jordi Torres           Aspar Suter            2m08.705s  + 1.743s
19.  Anthony West           QMMF Speed Up          2m08.739s  + 1.777s
20.  Nicolas Terol          Aspar Suter            2m08.798s  + 1.836s
21.  Tomoyoshi Koyama       Technomag-CIP Suter    2m08.906s  + 1.944s
22.  Gino Rea               Gresini Suter          2m09.021s  + 2.059s
23.  Yuki Takahashi         Forward FTR            2m09.053s  + 2.091s
24.  Xavier Simeon          Tech 3                 2m09.154s  + 2.192s
25.  Marcel Schrotter       SAG Bimota             2m09.484s  + 2.522s
26.  Ricard Cardus          Arguinano AJR          2m09.490s  + 2.528s
27.  Hafizh Syahrin         Raceline FTR           2m09.515s  + 2.553s
28.  Toni Elias             Italtrans Kalex        2m09.606s  + 2.644s
29.  Andrea Andreozzi       Speed Master Speed Up  2m10.151s  + 3.189s
30.  Jesko Raffin           Team Switzerland Kalex 2m11.227s  + 4.265s
31.  Elena Rosell           QMMF Speed Up          2m11.669s  + 4.707s
32.  Marco Colandrea        SAG FTR                2m11.751s  + 4.789s
33.  Eric Granado           JIR Motobi             2m13.144s  + 6.182s

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