Malaysian GP: 250cc Qualifying

Lap times were incredibly close for the 250cc class again today, with the top eleven separated by just a second in this afternoon’s single qualifying practice for Malaysian Grand Prix. It made for an exciting session in which pole position wasn’t decided until the very last moment, with slipstreams in the final section vital. In the end it was series leader Hiroshi Aoyama who snatched top spot ahead of French rookies Mike Di Meglio and Jules Cluzel, and Spanish pair Hector Barberá and Álvaro Bautista in the intense heat of Sepang.
Alvaro set a solid pace and also topped the time sheets for a spell before settling for fifth place on the grid.    

5th Alvaro Bautista 2.07.371 (17 laps):
“It’s a shame we missed out on the front row but the lap times are there and our rhythm is good. Luckily Mike was able to make the most of my slipstream so at least the team benefited. I crashed this morning when we were experimenting with things so in the afternoon we stuck to what we thought worked best and just focused on putting a pace together without sending ourselves crazy. There isn’t a lot of difference between the guys at the front and it’s going to be a close and hard race tomorrow because of the heat. We have to make sure we stay in touch from the start because any kind of fight-back is dangerous in these conditions. The set-up isn’t perfect but we are ready to race.”

Pos. Rider Team Lap time Gap
1 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 2′06.767
2 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 2′07.099 0.332
3 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 2′07.232 0.465
4 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 2′07.301 0.534
5 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 2′07.371 0.604
6 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 2′07.662 0.895
7 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 2′07.828 1.061
8 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 2′07.916 1.149
9 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 2′07.949 1.182
10 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 2′07.953 1.186
11 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 2′07.998 1.231
12 Mattia PASINI Paddock GP Racing Team 2′08.159 1.392
13 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 2′08.836 2.069
14 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 2′08.841 2.074
15 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 2′08.908 2.141
16 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 2′09.148 2.381
17 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 2′09.336 2.569
18 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 2′09.392 2.625
19 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 2′09.654 2.887
20 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 2′11.611 4.844
21 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 2′11.941 5.174
22 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 2′12.171 5.404
23 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 2′12.813 6.046
24 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 2′14.831 8.064