For third pole of 2008Alvaro Bautista completed the lower cylinder category sweep of Spanish polemen with his third qualifying blitz of 2008, maintaining a 100% record of front rows thus far this season.
Whilst some way off Jorge Lorenzo´s astonishing pole position
record from last year –nearly half a second slower than his countryman´s time- Bautista´s hot lap of 1´45.636 was enough to snatch the top spot after the chequered flag had been waved.
The Mapfre Aspar rider will line up alongside two fellow home riders on the front row, regular first line starters Alex Debon and Hector Barbera. Joining them will be the winner of the most recent race in Mugello, Marco Simoncelli.
Extra intrigue comes from the presence of Barbera and Simoncelli alongside each other, bearing in mind their final lap incident less than a week ago. The two shared a handshake in parc ferme, but there will surely be no love lost between the duo.
Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini was off the front line for only the second time this season, heading row two.
The title contender is accompanied by Hector Faubel in his best 250cc qualifying session, with Yuki Takahashi and Hiroshi Aoyama adding a Japanese flavour to proceedings.
Aoyama crashed out late on in the session, whilst his Red Bull KTM teammate and current World Championship leader Mika Kallio could only qualify eleventh.
