Bautista claims his pole of the season

Alvaro Bautista has secured his first pole position of the season this afternoon by recording a 1:57.435 lap at Mugello.

The Spaniard beat his own best time from qualifying one by almost 12 seconds and yesterday’s fastest man, Alex De Angelis, by just under 10 seconds.

Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso was second fastest thanks to his best time today of 1:57.923.

Japanese rider Shuhei Aoyama will start from third after recording a 1:58.874 while Thomas Luthi rounds off the front row.

The riders took to the track with relatively clear skies. But the rain which has hampered them all weekend returned soon after their session began meaning few riders were able to improve on yesterday’s times.

The surprise from qualifying for the 250s is Jorge Lorenzo’s lack of form. The current championship leader will start tomorrow’s race from row five after only qualifying 20th fastest with a 2:07.987.

Ireland’s Eugene Laverty will celebrate his 21st birthday in style tomorrow after being allowed to start the race. The Honda rider failed to make the required time during today’s session with a 2:09.297 but will be allowed to race.

Several riders have been given special dispensation to take to the grid even though their times did not meet the required 107 per cent. This is due to the poor weather, which has hampered practice over the last two days.

Qualifying practice two results:

1 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA APRILIA 1’57.435
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA HONDA 1’57.923
3 Shuhei AOYAMA JPN HONDA 1’58.874
4 Thomas LUTHI SWI APRILIA 1’58.971
5 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM APRILIA 1’59.107
6 Hector BARBERA SPA APRILIA 1’59.449
7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN KTM 1’59.455
8 Mika KALLIO FIN KTM 1’59.792
9 Anthony WEST AUS APRILIA 2’00.022
10 Julian SIMON SPA HONDA 2’00.237
11 Imre TOTH HUN APRILIA 2’00.417
12 Alex BALDOLINI ITA APRILIA 2’00.813
13 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA GILERA 2’00.876
14 Karel ABRAHAM CZE APRILIA 2’01.529
15 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA GILERA 2’01.985
16 Dirk HEIDOLF GER APRILIA 2’02.175
17 Omar MENGHI ITA APRILIA 2’04.693
18 Jules CLUZEL FRA APRILIA 2’05.061
19 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA HONDA 2’05.511
Not qualified (Out 107%)   2’05.655
 Jorge LORENZO SPA APRILIA 2’10.373
 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA APRILIA 2’10.810
 Thomas TALLEVI ITA YAMAHA 2’12.495
 Arturo TIZON SPA APRILIA 2’13.960
 Taro SEKIGUCHI JPN APRILIA 2’15.275
 Eugene LAVERTY IRL HONDA 2’17.120
 Fabrizio LAI ITA APRILIA 2’17.340
 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN HONDA 2’24.976