Category veteran Alex Debon will start from pole position for tomorrow's Jerez round of the 250cc series.
The 33-year-old led a Spanish one-two at his home event, ahead of Qatar winner Hector Barbera. With Julian Simon and Jorge Lorenzo on pole for the 125cc and MotoGP races respectively, the Spanish crowd will see a compatriot starting first for all three grand prix races.
Reigning champion Marco Simoncelli mounted a strong challenge for pole, but ended up having his third crash of the weekend. Still yet to score in 2009 after missing Qatar due to a motocross injury and retiring in Japan, Simoncelli rebounded from accidents in both practice sessions to lead the majority of this afternoon's qualifying session.
But he was beaten by Debon in the closing minutes and then fell while trying to respond. Simoncelli immediately got up and waved to the crowd to confirm that he had escaped further injury.
Barbera pushed Simoncelli back to third soon afterwards, with championship leader Alvaro Bautista taking the final front row position.
Qatar hero Jules Cluzel impressed again with fifth, ahead of long-time provisional pole-sitter Hiroshi Aoyama and reigning 125cc champion Mike di Meglio.
Apart from Simoncelli's incident, the biggest crash of the session befell Ratthapark Willairot. The Thai rider's Honda appeared to leak fluids onto its rear wheel, causing a relatively low-speed accident in which Willairot landed awkwardly on his left ankle. He limped away from the bike, before being met by the medics and taken away on a stretcher.
Times to follow