Qatar MotoGP: Hector Barbera pips Mattia Pasini to provisional pole for 250 race

Hector Barbera took provisional pole position for Sunday’s 250 race in the dying seconds of the first qualifying session knocking Mattia Pasini off the top spot.

The Aprilia rider posted a best lap of 1:59.739, taking nearly a second off his best time from earlier this evening to top the timesheets.

Polaris World’s Mattia Pasini knocked more than a second off his first practice time in the first 250 qualifying practice and looked set to take provisional pole in Qatar.

Heading on track just after midnight local time, Pasini was not initially among the front runners leaving that up to Team Toth Aprilia’s Hector Barbera and Red Bull KTM’s Mika Kallio.

Barbera set the early pace posting a 2:02.099 and it was some time before the two minute mark was broken.

But it was Barbera who was first to dip below two minutes with a 1:59.973 and soon after Marco Simoncelli followed suit to go second (1:59.982) with Mattia Pasini slotting in to third with a 2:00.034.

Pasini shot to the top of the timesheets after 35 minutes recording a 1:59.863 and it looked like this would be enough to keep him in control of the session to take provisional pole position for Sunday’s race.

But Hector Barbera had other ideas and pipped the Italian to the post on his final lap with the chequered flag waving to post his 1:59.739.

Italian Marco Simoncelli finished the session in third place.

Eugene Laverty only managed three laps on his Blusens Aprilia as he crashed out after just ten minutes.

The Irish rider was lucky to avoid incident as both he and his motorcycle were trapped in the middle of the circuit for a time with other riders having to take action to miss the bike.

Laverty’s best lap of the three came on his last as he managed a 2:04.428 to put him in 21st place.

Qatar MotoGP 250 first qualifying results:

1 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 1’59.739
2 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World APRILIA 1’59.863
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 1’59.880
4 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 1’59.977
5 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 2’00.108
6 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 2’00.557
7 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 2’00.639
8 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 2’00.737
9 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 2’00.865
10 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 HONDA 2’00.881
11 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 2’01.026 5
12 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc KTM 2’01.147
13 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 2’01.215
14 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing APRILIA 2’01.549
15 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 2’01.672
16 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing GILERA 2’01.724
17 Manuel POGGIALI RSM Campetella Racing GILERA 2’02.054
18 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 2’02.157
19 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 2’02.847
20 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 2’03.538
21 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 2’03.557
22 Manuel HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 2’04.737
23 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia YAMAHA 2’05.788