Bushiee46
09-03-2007, 17:11
World champion Jorge Lorenzo picked up where he left off with pole position for the opening round of the 250cc world championship in Qatar.
The Spaniard had spent most of the session tootling around comfortably in third place on his Fortuna Aprilia, but made the most of a tow from Roberto Locatelli with a minute to go to launch himself into pole.
Lorenzo's lap time of 1:59.432 was good enough to secure his 15th pole in the 250cc class – ahead of Friday pace-setter Hector Barbera - who has moved from Fortuna to the Toth Aprilia squad - by 0.350 seconds.
Aprilia machines in fact took the top five places with the Aspar bikes of Alex de Angelis and series newcomer Alvaro Bautista – the reigning 125cc world champion – completing the front row.
Another ex-125 world champion Thomas Luthi was fifth on his Caffe Latte bike, while the KTMs of Hiroshi Aoyama and 125 graduate Mika Kallio were sixth and eighth – sandwiching Andrea Dovizioso's Humangest Honda.
Yuki Takahashi was ninth on the second Humangest machine while Julian Simon had an impressive 250cc debut in tenth on his Repsol Honda – ahead of his team-mate Shuhei Aoyama.
Irishman Eugene Laverty was 24th on his LCR Honda.
1 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Spain's No1 01:59.432
2 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia 01:59.782
3 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 01:59.871
4 Á. Bautista (ESP) Aprilia 02:00.127
5 T. Lüthi (SUI) Honda 02:00.316
6 H. Aoyama (JPN) KTM 02:00.700
7 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 02:00.702
8 M. Kallio (FIN) KTM 02:00.721
9 Y. Takahashi (JPN) Honda 02:00.801
10 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 02:01.087
11 R. Locatelli (ITA) Gilera 02:01.216
12 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 02:01.368
13 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 02:01.555
14 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 02:01.614
15 A. Tizon (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 02:02.504
16 A. Espargaro (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 02:02.525
17 A. West (AUS) Team Sicilia 02:02.733
18 D. Heidolf (GER) Honda 02:02.954
19 I. Toth (HUN) Aprilia 02:02.962
20 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 02:02.968
21 K. Abraham (CZE) Aprilia 02:03.228
22 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 02:03.326
23 J. Cluzel (FRA) Honda 02:03.911
24 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 02:04.411
25 T. Sekiguchi (JPN) Aprilia 02:04.878
The Spaniard had spent most of the session tootling around comfortably in third place on his Fortuna Aprilia, but made the most of a tow from Roberto Locatelli with a minute to go to launch himself into pole.
Lorenzo's lap time of 1:59.432 was good enough to secure his 15th pole in the 250cc class – ahead of Friday pace-setter Hector Barbera - who has moved from Fortuna to the Toth Aprilia squad - by 0.350 seconds.
Aprilia machines in fact took the top five places with the Aspar bikes of Alex de Angelis and series newcomer Alvaro Bautista – the reigning 125cc world champion – completing the front row.
Another ex-125 world champion Thomas Luthi was fifth on his Caffe Latte bike, while the KTMs of Hiroshi Aoyama and 125 graduate Mika Kallio were sixth and eighth – sandwiching Andrea Dovizioso's Humangest Honda.
Yuki Takahashi was ninth on the second Humangest machine while Julian Simon had an impressive 250cc debut in tenth on his Repsol Honda – ahead of his team-mate Shuhei Aoyama.
Irishman Eugene Laverty was 24th on his LCR Honda.
1 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Spain's No1 01:59.432
2 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia 01:59.782
3 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 01:59.871
4 Á. Bautista (ESP) Aprilia 02:00.127
5 T. Lüthi (SUI) Honda 02:00.316
6 H. Aoyama (JPN) KTM 02:00.700
7 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 02:00.702
8 M. Kallio (FIN) KTM 02:00.721
9 Y. Takahashi (JPN) Honda 02:00.801
10 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 02:01.087
11 R. Locatelli (ITA) Gilera 02:01.216
12 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 02:01.368
13 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 02:01.555
14 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 02:01.614
15 A. Tizon (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 02:02.504
16 A. Espargaro (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 02:02.525
17 A. West (AUS) Team Sicilia 02:02.733
18 D. Heidolf (GER) Honda 02:02.954
19 I. Toth (HUN) Aprilia 02:02.962
20 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 02:02.968
21 K. Abraham (CZE) Aprilia 02:03.228
22 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 02:03.326
23 J. Cluzel (FRA) Honda 02:03.911
24 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 02:04.411
25 T. Sekiguchi (JPN) Aprilia 02:04.878