Phillip Island MotoGP: Marco Simoncelli smashes 250GP lap record

Metis Gilera rider Marco Simoncelli has taken pole in the 250GP at Phillip Island after destroying the previous lap record.

Championship leader Simoncelli posted a fastest lap of 1.32.075 to smash the previous lap record, held by Sebastian Porto by 1.3 seconds! The lap by Simoncelli would have been fastest enough for him to qualify for the MotoGP race. He was less than a tenth slower than Anthony West.

Second place on the grid went to title contender Mika Kallio, who qualified eight tenths slower than Simoncelli!

Alvaro Bautista and Kallio’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama complete the front row of the grid.

The second row of the grid is lead by Mapfre Aspar Aprilia rider Hector Faubel with Julian Simon and Yuki Takahashi completing the second row.

1 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 1’32.075 269.753 
2 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 1’32.862 266.830 0.787
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 1’32.917 271.306 0.842
4 4 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 1’33.048 264.035 0.973
5 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 1’33.167 271.035 1.092
6 60 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc KTM 1’33.250 264.486 1.175
7 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 Honda 1’33.294 267.423 1.219
8 6 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia Aprilia 1’33.349 270.022 1.274
9 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia Aprilia 1’33.368 266.110 1.293
10 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World Aprilia 1’33.376 271.103 1.301
11 15 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 1’33.508 270.900 1.433
12 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG Honda 1’33.538 269.284 1.463
13 32 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing Gilera 1’33.696 268.816 1.621
14 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP Aprilia 1’33.871 267.028 1.796
15 90 Federico SANDI ITA Zongshen Team of China Aprilia 1’34.544 265.198 2.469
16 10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia 1’34.997 265.068 2.922
17 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Aprilia 1’35.464 265.133 3.389
18 25 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 1’36.036 265.393 3.961
19 43 Manuel HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 1’36.116 261.675 4.041
20 92 Daniel ARCAS SPA Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 1’36.921 260.857 4.846
21 35 Simone GROTZKYJ ITA Campetella Racing Gilera 1’37.006 262.563 4.931
22 45 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia Yamaha 1’37.050 248.931 4.975