Jerez MotoGP: Mika Kallio takes provisional pole for 250GP

Mika Kallio has taken provisional pole position for Sunday’s 250GP in Jerez.

The Finnish rider knocked more than a second of his best time in this morning’s free practice to claim a best time of 1:43.111 on his penultimate lap on the KTM.

Alex Debon could have taken the top spot but suffered a mysterious mechanical problem on his final flying lap which sent him in to the gravel trap just as the chequered flag was shown. Sot he Aprilia rider, who topped this morning’s free practice, had to settle for 1:43.321 in second place.

Fellow Spaniard Julian Simon was third fastest at his home MotoGP. The KTM rider had his best lap one from the end with a 1:43.830.

Ireland’s Eugene Laverty was 18th with his best lap of 1:46.034 on his 13th lap of 15.

Regular front runner Marco Simoncelli only managed to claim 11th at the end of the session after crashing out just 20 minutes in to the 45 minute session.

But there was more concern over Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham as he had to be stretchered out of the gravel trap after high-siding his Aprilia and landing on his shoulder after 15 minutes.

Jerez MotoGP 250 qualifying one results:

1 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 1’43.111
2 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 1’43.321
3 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc KTM 1’43.830
4 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 1’43.877
5 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 1’44.002
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 1’44.040
7 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 1’44.228
8 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 1’44.270
9 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World APRILIA 1’44.355
10 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 HONDA 1’44.385
11 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 1’44.502
12 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing GILERA 1’44.551
13 Manuel POGGIALI RSM Campetella Racing GILERA 1’44.754
14 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 1’44.782
15 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia APRILIA 1’44.785
16 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 1’45.827
17 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 1’46.015
18 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 1’46.034
19 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 1’46.342
20 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing APRILIA 1’46.428
21 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 1’46.710
22 Manuel HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 1’47.940
23 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia YAMAHA 1’48.918