Briton Bradley Smith snatched pole position on his very last lap in 125cc qualifying in front of his home crowd at Donington Park.
With time already expired in the 40-minute session held in sunny conditions, the Aspar Aprilia rider managed to stop the clock at 1m37.442s, 0.131 seconds quicker than KTM's Marc Marquez, who had held top spot until then.
Smith's teammate Julian Simon, who dominated last week's German Grand Prix, had to settle for third best after crashing early in the session.
Sergio Gadea qualified fourth thanks to a good lap in the final minutes that promoted him from 12th, making it three Aspar Aprilia bikes on the front row.
Joan Olive (Derbi) will lead the second row, ahead of Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Aprilia), and the Derbis of Pol Espargaro and Sandro Cortese.
Pos Rider Bike Time Laps
1. Bradley Smith Aprilia 1m37.442s 21
2. Marc Marquez KTM 1m37.573s + 0.131s 21
3. Julian Simon Aprilia 1m37.749s + 0.307s 14
4. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1m37.849s + 0.407s 17
5. Joan Olive Derbi 1m37.874s + 0.432s 21
6. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 1m37.989s + 0.547s 19
7. Pol Espargaro Derbi 1m38.117s + 0.675s 20
8. Sandro Cortese Derbi 1m38.367s + 0.925s 19
9. Esteve Rabat Aprilia 1m38.471s + 1.029s 17
10. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1m38.484s + 1.042s 15
11. Scott Redding Aprilia 1m38.501s + 1.059s 20
12. Simone Corsi Aprilia 1m38.501s + 1.059s 21
13. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1m38.555s + 1.113s 21
14. Daniel Webb Aprilia 1m38.570s + 1.128s 19
15. Jonas Folger Aprilia 1m38.848s + 1.406s 20
16. Efren Vazquez Derbi 1m38.879s + 1.437s 20
17. Michael Ranseder Aprilia 1m39.081s + 1.639s 18
18. D.Agerter Derbi 1m39.189s + 1.747s 21
19. Tomoyoshi Koyama Loncin 1m39.366s + 1.924s 20
20. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 1m39.393s + 1.951s 17
21. R.Krummenacher Aprilia 1m39.401s + 1.959s 18
22. Lorenzo Zanetti Aprilia 1m39.407s + 1.965s 18
23. Johann Zarco Aprilia 1m39.533s + 2.091s 18
24. Luis Salom Aprilia 1m40.342s + 2.900s 20
25. Jasper Iwema Honda 1m40.382s + 2.940s 21
26. Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 1m40.456s + 3.014s 20
27. Cameron Beaubier KTM 1m40.509s + 3.067s 17
28. Alexis Masbou Loncin 1m41.086s + 3.644s 15
29. Karel Pesek Derbi 1m41.129s + 3.687s 20
30. James Lodge Honda 1m41.571s + 4.129s 19
31. Martin Glossop Honda 1m41.778s + 4.336s 20
32. Lukas Sembera Aprilia 1m42.080s + 4.638s 19
33. Luca Marconi Aprilia 1m42.426s + 4.984s 10
34. Tim Hastings Honda 1m42.473s + 5.031s 19
35. Paul Jordan Honda 1m43.393s + 5.951s 16
36. Luca Vitali Aprilia 1m45.081s + 7.639s 4