Alex Debon will start tomorrow's last ever world championship 250cc race in pole position, before the series gives way next year to the new Moto2 class.

The Spanish rider set the quickest time of the 45-minute session at Valencia, with a 1m36.116sec lap, moments before running off the track following a suspected engine seizure with his Blusens Aprilia. The bike went through the gravel trap at high speed and, despite Debon dropping it, he could not avoid hitting the barriers. He was taken off the track on a stretcher, but according to Dr. Claudio Costa he should be able to race on home soil tomorrow.

Gilera's Marco Simoncelli, who still maintains a faint hope of defending his crown, will start the race from the second spot on the grid, after managing to take the position back from Honda's Ratthapack Wilairot in his penultimate effort. Pepe Aprilia's Hector Barbera also snatched third spot from Wilairot in the final seconds, relegating the Thai to the final spot of the front row.

Scot Honda's Hiroshi Aoyama, who virtually has this year's title in the bag, salvaged a fifth spot on the grid after running around in the 10th position for most of the session. Tomas Luthi (Emmi Aprilia) qualified sixth, ahead of Karel Abraham (Cardion Aprilia), Mattia Pasini (Paddock GP Aprilia), Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Aprilia) and Hector Faubel (SAG Honda).

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time               Laps
 1.  Alex Debon        Aprilia  1m36.116s           20
 2.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera   1m36.450s + 0.334s  22
 3.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia  1m36.470s + 0.354s  21
 4.  R.Wilairot        Honda    1m36.563s + 0.447s  20
 5.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Honda    1m36.656s + 0.540s  22
 6.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia  1m36.985s + 0.869s  23
 7.  Karel Abraham     Aprilia  1m37.271s + 1.155s  22
 8.  Mattia Pasini     Aprilia  1m37.278s + 1.162s  20
 9.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia  1m37.303s + 1.187s  22
10.  Hector Faubel     Honda    1m37.318s + 1.202s  21
11.  Raffaele De Rosa  Honda    1m37.365s + 1.249s  21
12.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia  1m37.577s + 1.461s  21
13.  Jules Cluzel      Aprilia  1m37.749s + 1.633s  17
14.  R.Locatelli       Gilera   1m37.811s + 1.695s  22
15.  Mike Di Meglio    Aprilia  1m37.958s + 1.842s  15
16.  Shoya Tomizawa    Honda    1m38.085s + 1.969s  20
17.  Axel Pons         Aprilia  1m38.126s + 2.010s  21
18.  Lukas Pesek       Aprilia  1m38.291s + 2.175s  19
19.  Balazs Nemeth     Aprilia  1m38.737s + 2.621s  21
20.  Shuhei Aoyama     Honda    1m38.795s + 2.679s  19
21.  Valentin Debise   Honda    1m39.283s + 3.167s  16
22.  Vladimir Leonov   Aprilia  1m40.371s + 4.255s  19
23.  Bastien Chesaux   Aprilia  1m41.605s + 5.489s  13
24.  Imre Toth         Aprilia  1m42.418s + 6.302s  20
-    William Dunlop    Honda    1m42.906s + 6.790s  20