Qatar MotoGP: Alex Debon takes pole position on return to 250s

Lotus Aprilia’s Alex Debon has put himself on pole position for tomorrow’s 250 race on his first attempt since returning to 250GP racing.

 

Debon, back as a full-time 250 rider, was a late challenger for the podium spot after knocking Alvaro Bautista off the top slot with just five minutes to go until the end of the session.

 

The Spaniard’s time of 1:59.470 was a massive 1.2secs faster than his best time recorded in last nights first qualifying session.

Provisional pole man Hector Barbera also improved on his time from yesterday by more than 0.1secs, but even this was not enough to hold on to the top spot.

Alvaro Bausitsa finished the session in third place and will line up on the front row alongside KTM’s Mika Kallio.

The Spaniard, who has been on the top of the timesheets himself several times this weekend improved on yesterday’s best lap and posted a 1:59.694.

He was the first rider to dip below the two minute mark on his eighth lap and had looked like he would be the one to steal pole away from Barbera until Debon’s flying lap just before the end of the 45 minute session.

Ireland’s Eugene Laverty will start tomorrow night’s race from 20th. His best lap f 2:02.482 saw him knock a massive 1.1secs off yesterday’s short first qualifying session before his crash.

Qatar MotoGP 250 qualifying results:

1 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 1’59.470
2 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 1’59.629 1
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 1’59.694
4 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 1’59.814
5 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World APRILIA 1’59.903
6 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 1’59.911
7 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 HONDA 2’00.326
8 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 2’00.365
9 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 2’00.4035
10 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 2’00.451
11 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing APRILIA 2’00.517
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 2’00.609
13 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing GILERA 2’00.854
14 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc KTM 2’00.975
15 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 2’00.998
16 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 2’01.000
17 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 2’01.149
18 Manuel POGGIALI RSM Campetella Racing GILERA 2’01.391
19 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 2’01.487
20 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 2’02.482
21 Manuel HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 2’03.703
22 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 2’04.102
23 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia YAMAHA 2’05.343