Julian Simon beat his Aspar Aprilia teammate Bradley Smith to pole position for the Spanish 125cc Grand Prix at Jerez.
Pre-season title favourite Simon came from behind to outpace Smith by 0.197 seconds, with championship leader Andrea Iannone third on his Ongetta Aprilia having battled for pole with the Aspar duo.
Spanish rider Simon, who has stepped back from 250cc to 125cc this year, had dominated winter testing and took pole for the season opener in Qatar, but it is Iannone who has taken both race wins so far in 2009.
Marc Marquez completes the front row on the leading Red Bull KTM, having achieved his best ever qualifying result on home ground.
Sergio Gadea ensured that all three Aspar bikes were in the top five by beating Dominic Aegerter (Ajo Derbi), Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia) and Danny Webb (Degraaf Aprilia) to fifth place.
Times to follow