Moto2 championship leader Toni Elias took pole for the first time since the season opener by winning a tight battle with young British rider Scott Redding at Misano.
Although Elias has five wins, including three in a row in the last three rounds and a 67-point advantage under his belt, the former MotoGP rider had only taken one pole so far this year, for the series' first race at Losail. He led the way for most of the session in his Gresini team's home nation today, but Redding nipped ahead by 0.06sec in the final minutes.
Elias responded with a 1m38.991sec to beat Marc VDS Suter rider Redding by just 0.044sec, and with both men then hitting traffic on their next attempts, pole was settled in Elias' favor. Julian Simon (Aspar Suter) and Jules Cluzel (Forward Suter) will join them on the front row.
Elias' nearest title rival Andrea Iannone had to park his Speed Up in the pits with mechanical issues before the end of the session, but hung on to fifth ahead of JiR's Simone Corsi. Series returnees Alex de Angelis and Mattia Pasini took seventh and ninth, split by Technomag-CIP Suter rider Shoya Tomizawa.
De Angelis had lost his Scot ride when the team ran short of funds, and had temporarily returned to MotoGP in place of the injured Hiroshi Aoyama at Interwetten Honda. The Italian has now returned to Moto2 with the JiR team – which recently split with Pasini, who is back as a wild card only for his home round.
Another rider change this weekend is the return of Xavier Simeon to deputize for the injured Fonsi Nieto at the Holiday Gym squad. Nieto suffered a nasty heel injury in his crash in Indianapolis qualifying, and then had a severe reaction to his treatment plus complications in surgery. He still hopes to race again before the end of the season.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap
1. Toni Elias Moriwaki 1m38.991s
2. Scott Redding Suter 1m39.035s + 0.044s
3. Julian Simon Suter 1m39.280s + 0.289s
4. Jules Cluzel Suter 1m39.413s + 0.422s
5. Andrea Iannone Speed Up 1m39.426s + 0.435s
6. Simone Corsi Motobi 1m39.664s + 0.673s
7. Alex de Angelis Motobi 1m39.686s + 0.695s
8. Shoya Tomizawa Suter 1m39.778s + 0.787s
9. Mattia Pasini Suter 1m39.856s + 0.865s
10. Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up 1m39.857s + 0.866s
11. Hector Faubel Suter 1m40.045s + 1.054s
12. Dominique Aegerter Suter 1m40.047s + 1.056s
13. Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 1m40.075s + 1.084s
14. Claudio Corti Suter 1m40.101s + 1.110s
15. Thomas Luthi Moriwaki 1m40.101s + 1.110s
16. Xavier Simeon Moriwaki 1m40.153s + 1.162s
17. Stefan Bradl Suter 1m40.164s + 1.173s
18. Sergio Gadea Pons Kalex 1m40.184s + 1.193s
19. Mike di Meglio Suter 1m40.201s + 1.210s
20. Ferruccio Lamborghini Suter 1m40.290s + 1.299s
21. Alex Baldolini ICP 1m40.523s + 1.532s
22. Michael Ranseder Suter 1m40.531s + 1.540s
23. Yonny Hernandez BQR 1m40.579s + 1.588s
24. Roberto Rolfo Suter 1m40.677s + 1.686s
25. Karel Abraham FTR 1m40.732s + 1.741s
26. Axel Pons Pons Kalex 1m40.751s + 1.760s
27. Robertino Pietri Suter 1m40.880s + 1.889s
28. Raffaele De Rosa Tech 3 1m40.930s + 1.939s
29. Tatsuya Yamaguchi Moriwaki 1m41.074s + 2.083s
30. Lukas Pesek Moriwaki 1m41.147s + 2.156s
31. Valentin Debise ADV 1m41.178s + 2.187s
32. Ratthapark Wilairot Bimota 1m41.269s + 2.278s
33. Niccolo Canepa Bimota 1m41.522s + 2.531s
34. Anthony West MZ 1m41.526s + 2.535s
35. Kenny Noyes Promoharris 1m41.794s + 2.803s
36. Joan Olive FTR 1m41.853s + 2.862s
37. Ricard Cardus Bimota 1m42.061s + 3.070s
38. Mashel Al Naimi BQR 1m42.657s + 3.666s
39. Yannick Guerra Moriwaki 1m42.827s + 3.836s