Marc Marquez took the first pole of the 125cc season at Losail this evening, leading an all-Spanish front row.
Tuenti Derbi's Pol Espargaro had been on top for much of the session, but was pushed back to fourth late on. Although he eventually managed to reclaim second place, he was still nearly half a second adrift of Marquez, as the Ajo Derbi rider wrapped the third pole of his world championship career.
Nico Terol (Aspar) and Efren Vazquez (Tuenti) filled the rest of the front row spots, ahead of Randy Krummenacher and Tomoyoshi Koyama.
Last year's championship runner-up Bradley Smith was only eighth, with the Aspar team struggling to rectify an engine problem on his bike.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap
1. Marc Marquez Derbi 2m06.651s
2. Pol Espargaro Derbi 2m07.110s + 0.459s
3. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 2m07.136s + 0.485s
4. Efren Vazquez Derbi 2m07.143s + 0.492s
5. Randy Krummenacher Aprilia 2m07.770s + 1.119s
6. Tomoyoshi Koyama Aprilia 2m07.943s + 1.292s
7. Sandro Cortese Derbi 2m08.211s + 1.560s
8. Alexis Masbou Aprilia 2m08.735s + 2.084s
9. Bradley Smith Aprilia 2m08.835s + 2.184s
10. Esteve Rabat Aprilia 2m08.850s + 2.199s
11. Johann Zarco Aprilia 2m09.382s + 2.731s
12. Jasper Iwema Aprilia 2m09.388s + 2.737s
13. Danny Webb Aprilia 2m09.647s + 2.996s
14. Alberto Moncayo Aprilia 2m09.649s + 2.998s
15. Marcel Schrötter Honda 2m09.739s + 3.088s
16. Sturla Fagerhaug Aprilia 2m10.010s + 3.359s
17. Muhammad Zulfahmi Aprilia 2m10.253s + 3.602s
18. Jonas Folger Aprilia 2m10.405s + 3.754s
19. Louis Rossi Aprilia 2m10.680s + 4.029s
20. Adrian Martin Aprilia 2m10.859s + 4.208s
21. Jakub Kornfeil Aprilia 2m10.864s + 4.213s
22. Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 2m11.034s + 4.383s
23. Luis Salom Lambretta 2m11.038s + 4.387s
24. Luca Marconi Aprilia 2m11.307s + 4.656s
25. Quentin Jacquet Aprilia 2m13.874s + 7.223s
26. Marco Ravaioli Lambretta 2m14.311s + 7.660s