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125cc: Espargaro scores maiden pole

Spaniard Pol Espargaro scored his maiden pole position in front of his own crowd at Barcelona, ahead of tomorrow's 125cc Grand Prix of Catalunya

The Derbi rider, who was already on provisional pole position yesterday, did not improve on that time until well after the half-way point of today's 30 minute session.

Espargaro's first quick lap wasn't enough to improve on the time set some ten minutes earlier by Derbi's Mike di Meglio, whose time of 1:50.696 was four tenths quicker than provisional pole.

But the next two laps on the same run were both quicker than the Frenchman's, putting him 0.139 ahead with a best time of 1:50.557. Espargaro tried to improve once more on the same run, but he ran into traffic and gesticulated in frustration.

That happened just moments before Briton Bradley Smith had a big crash with four minutes of the session left, forcing him to be stretchered out of the track.

While riding through the first corner, the Polaris World rider saved a high-side but ended up tumbling in the gravel and being run over by his own Aprilia, after the bike hit the tyre barrier.

It's as yet unknown whether Smith, who has scored three pole positions this year, will be able to start the race after the accident, despite today's qualifying effort being good enough for eighth position.

Smith's father, however, told journalists that the rider didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Joining Espargaro and di Meglio on the front row are the Aprilias of Nicolas Terol and Scott Redding, whose times were the only others better than yesterday's provisional pole.

Leading Smith on the second row are the other Aprilias of Simone Corsi, Sergio Gadea, and Gabor Talmacsi, with the latter being the only top runner unable to improve on the time he set on Friday.

Not taking part in qualifying was Esteve Rabat, who lost his senses in hospital after yesterday's crash and was kept in induced coma. The Spaniard woke up from the coma this morning in the hospital and is reportedly in a good condition.

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Pol Espargaro     Derbi    1:50.557
 2.  Mike Di Meglio    Derbi    1:50.696  + 0.139
 3.  Nicolas Terol     Aprilia  1:50.740  + 0.183
 4.  Scott Redding     Aprilia  1:51.101  + 0.544
 5.  Simone Corsi      Aprilia  1:51.365  + 0.808
 6.  Sergio Gadea      Aprilia  1:51.399  + 0.842
 7.  Gabor Talmacsi    Aprilia  1:51.436  + 0.879
 8.  Bradley Smith     Aprilia  1:51.439  + 0.882
 9.  Andrea Iannone    Aprilia  1:51.500  + 0.943
10.  Joan Olive        Derbi    1:51.518  + 0.961
11.  Sandro Cortese    Aprilia  1:51.564  + 1.007
12.  Raffaele De Rosa  KTM      1:51.566  + 1.009
13.  Stefan Bradl      Aprilia  1:51.593  + 1.036
14.  Marc Marquez      KTM      1:51.650  + 1.093
15.  Efren Vazquez     Aprilia  1:51.780  + 1.223
16.  Steve Bonsey      Aprilia  1:51.932  + 1.375
17.  D.Agerter         Derbi    1:51.976  + 1.419
18.  R.Krummenacher    KTM      1:52.074  + 1.517
19.  Takaaki Nakagami  Aprilia  1:52.076  + 1.519
20.  Pablo Nieto       KTM      1:52.080  + 1.523
21.  Daniel Webb       Aprilia  1:52.161  + 1.604
22.  Tomoyoshi Koyama  KTM      1:52.250  + 1.693
23.  Alexis Masbou     Loncin   1:52.428  + 1.871
24.  Lorenzo Zanetti   KTM      1:52.428  + 1.871
25.  Robin Lasser      Aprilia  1:52.474  + 1.917
26.  Stefano Bianco    Aprilia  1:52.593  + 2.036
27.  Michael Ranseder  Aprilia  1:52.769  + 2.212
28.  Pere Tutusaus     Aprilia  1:52.806  + 2.249
29.  Jules Cluzel      Loncin   1:53.345  + 2.788
30.  Axel Pons         Aprilia  1:53.532  + 2.975
31.  H.van den Berg    Aprilia  1:53.560  + 3.003
32.  Robert Muresan    Aprilia  1:53.607  + 3.050
33.  Ricard Cardus     Derbi    1:53.698  + 3.141
34.  R.Lacalendola     Aprilia  1:54.090  + 3.533
35.  Louis Rossi       Honda    1:54.190  + 3.633
36.  Jordi Dalmau      Honda    1:54.944  + 4.387
37.  Daniel Saez       Aprilia  1:55.022  + 4.465
38.  Ivan Maestro      Aprilia  1:55.681  + 5.124

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