Scott Redding on front row in Phillip Island

British rider Scott Redding will start tomorrow’s Australian Moto2 Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after he qualified his Marc VDS Racing Kalex machine in second place.

The Gloucestershire teenager clocked a best time of 1.34.264 in a rain-hit session to secure his sixth front row start of the season.

Redding will start sandwiched in between Spanish title contenders Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez. Espargaro will start on pole for the seventh time after he logged a best lap of 1.33.705 to finish 0.559s clear of Redding.

Marquez, who is a red-hot favourite to lift the Moto2 title tomorrow as he holds a commanding 48-point lead over Espargaro, was 0.144s behind Redding in third.

Bradley Smith will start from 15th on the grid after he suffered a heavy fall at Turn 8 with rain spots falling just before a heavy shower interrupted the session.

The 21-year-old fortunately walked away unhurt from the high-speed crash but with his Mistral 610 machine badly damaged in the incident, he couldn’t take any further part in the session.
He finished with a best time of 1.35.169 having only completed 10 laps.

Gino Rea came crashing back down to earth with a bump. Just six days after his stunning maiden podium in a rain-lashed Sepang clash in Malaysia, the Gresini Suter rider’s dry weather struggles returned and he was a lowly 24th with a lap of 1.36.163 leaving him 2.458s off the pace.