125cc: Di Meglio on wet provisional pole
Championship leader Mike di Meglio took a dominant provisional pole position in a wet first qualifying session for the 125cc Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island
Di Meglio went to the top of the times eight minutes into the session and never relinquished top spot from then on, repeatedly lowering his times as he led his rivals by more than two seconds at times.
His final effort after the chequered flag fell of a 1:48.319 left him three-quarters of a second ahead of his closest rival, Briton Danny Webb, with Michael Ranseder third fastest 1.2 seconds behind di Meglio.
Almost two seconds off the pace in fourth was Stefan Bradl, closely followed by Esteve Rabat, who crashed in the closing minutes while on a lap that may have challenged for the top two spots, Lorenzo Zanetti and Stevie Bonsey just behind.
Several riders fell during the session, including Pol Espargaro, who was second fastest when he fell but ended the session eleventh, Bradley Smith, who finished sixteenth fastest and Marc Marquez, who fell early in the session but got back on track later in the session to finish 21st.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Mike di Meglio Derbi 1:48.319 2. Daniel Webb Aprilia 1:49.093 + 0.774 3. Michael Ranseder Aprilia 1:49.537 + 1.218 4. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1:50.232 + 1.913 5. Esteve Rabat KTM 1:50.374 + 2.055 6. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 1:50.379 + 2.060 7. Steve Bonsey Aprilia 1:50.420 + 2.101 8. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 1:50.670 + 2.351 9. Sandro Cortese Aprilia 1:50.851 + 2.532 10. H. van den Berg Aprilia 1:50.893 + 2.574 11. Pol Espargaro Derbi 1:51.140 + 2.821 12. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1:51.229 + 2.910 13. Simone Corsi Aprilia 1:51.276 + 2.957 14. Raffaele de Rosa KTM 1:51.595 + 3.276 15. Joan Olive Derbi 1:51.904 + 3.585 16. Bradley Smith Aprilia 1:52.174 + 3.855 17. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 1:52.320 + 4.001 18. Robert Muresan Aprilia 1:52.354 + 4.035 19. Scott Redding Aprilia 1:52.828 + 4.509 20. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1:52.899 + 4.580 21. Marc Marquez KTM 1:52.955 + 4.636 22. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia 1:53.345 + 5.026 23. Jules Cluzel Loncin 1:53.522 + 5.203 24. D. Aegerter Derbi 1:53.777 + 5.458 25. Robin Lasser Aprilia 1:53.980 + 5.661 26. R. Krummenacher KTM 1:54.323 + 6.004 27. B. Leigh-Smith Honda 1:54.570 + 6.251 28. Alexis Masbou Loncin 1:54.693 + 6.374 29. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 1:55.124 + 6.805 30. Marco Ravaioli Aprilia 1:55.175 + 6.856 31. Efren Vazquez Aprilia 1:55.373 + 7.054 32. Adrian Martín Aprilia 1:55.418 + 7.099 Not qualified (outside 107%): Jed Metcher Honda 1:56.369 + 8.050 Rhys Moller Honda 1:56.388 + 8.069 Cyril Carrillo Honda 1:57.224 + 8.905 Pablo Nieto KTM 1:57.562 + 9.243 Enrique Jerez KTM 2:00.747 +12.428 Jake Horne Honda 2:02.803 +14.484 Brad Gross Yamaha 2:02.992 +14.673
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