Sepang MotoGP: Aoyama claims his first pole of the season

Hiroshi Aoyama finished third in the second 250 qualifying session today, but his time from Friday remained untouched, earning him pole position for Sunday’s 250 GP.

Aoyama is strong at the Sepang circuit, having won the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle GP last year.

Italian Marco Simoncelli posted the fastest time of the session and will be hoping to wrap up the title in tomorro’ws race, but it wasn’t enough to topple Aoyama’s 2´06.893 lap from the first qualifying session.

Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista took second today, with Aoyama in third and Julain Simon finishing 4th quickest.

1  Marco SIMONCELLI  ITA  Metis Gilera    Gilera   2’07.109  
2  Alvaro BAUTISTA  SPA  Mapfre Aspar Team   Aprilia  2’07.444  
3  Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN  Red Bull KTM 250   KTM   2’07.535  
4  Julian SIMON   SPA  Repsol KTM 250cc   KTM   2’07.668  
5  Yuki TAKAHASHI   JPN  JiR Team Scot 250   Honda   2’07.766  
6  Alex DEBON   SPA  Lotus Aprilia    Aprilia  2’07.968  
7  Mattia PASINI   ITA  Polaris World    Aprilia  2’08.386  
8  Mika KALLIO   FIN  Red Bull KTM 250   KTM   2’08.762  
9  Aleix ESPARGARO  SPA  Lotus Aprilia    Aprilia  2’08.801  
10  Thomas LUTHI   SWI  Emmi – Caffe Latte   Aprilia  2’08.924  
11  Lukas PESEK   CZE  Auto Kelly – CP   Aprilia  2’08.991  
12  Hector FAUBEL   SPA  Mapfre Aspar Team   Aprilia  2’09.017  
13  Fabrizio LAI   ITA  Campetella Racing   Gilera   2’09.055  
14  Ratthapark WILAIROT  THA  Thai Honda PTT SAG   Honda   2’09.090  
15  Roberto LOCATELLI  ITA  Metis Gilera    Gilera   2’09.746  
16  Karel ABRAHAM   CZE  Cardion AB Motoracing   Aprilia  2’10.060  
17  Alex BALDOLINI   ITA  Matteoni Racing   Aprilia  2’10.262  
18  Imre TOTH   HUN  Team Toth Aprilia   Aprilia  2’10.342  
19  Simone GROTZKYJ  ITA  Campetella Racing   Gilera   2’10.490  
20  Doni Tata PRADITA  INA  Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia  Yamaha   2’11.437  
21  Manuel HERNANDEZ  SPA  Blusens Aprilia   Aprilia  2’11.665  
22  Daniel ARCAS   SPA  Blusens Aprilia   Aprilia  2’14.180