Qatar : 250cc final qualifying sessionCompleting a day in which all three cylinder classes saw pole position debuts, Alex Debon clocked the 250cc category's fastest time of the evening to put himself at the head of the field for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.
The
Lotus Aprilia rider, making his return to the grid as a full-time rider after two years of select wild card appearances, performed a 1'59.470 lap of the Losail International Circuit that went unanswered by any of his fellow competitors.
Yesterday's provisional poleman Hector Barbera was unable to follow up on his Saturday placing, but will still line up alongside Debon on the front row with his Pepe Team Toth Aprilia. Also on the front line for the Sunday race will be Mapfre Aspar's Alvaro Bautista and Red Bull KTM's Mika Kallio.
In contrast to the MotoGP class, there was no room for debutants on the 250cc front row. The highest placing of the rookies was Mattia Pasini –moving up to the quarter litre class with Polaris World Aprilia- at the head of the second line, to be joined by Metis Gilera's Marco Simoncelli, Emmi Caffe Latte's Thomas Luthi and the highest placing Honda in Japanese star Yuki Takahashi.
There were crashes for Roberto Locatelli and Aleix Espargaro as they looked to improve their times, whilst there were also respective wobbles and off-track excursions for Luthi and Pasini.
DORNA / CAPSIS International
