Former MotoGP rider Gabor Talmacsi has taken his first Moto2 pole position as his quick time at the end of Friday afternoon practice proved crucial when qualifying was canceled due to poor weather at Estoril.
All three world championship classes saw their qualifying sessions called off amid persistent downpours, but the Moto2 field had at least managed to get a little bit of running on slicks as the track dried in practice two.
Speed Up rider Talmacsi's 1m50.916sec lap in that session therefore gave him pole, ahead of Julian Simon (Aspar Suter) and champion Toni Elias (Gresini Moriwaki). Second place is a big boost to Simon's bid to take the runner-up spot in the championship – as main rival Andrea Iannone, Talmacsi's teammate, did not get a good lap in during the dry running and will start a disastrous 35th.
Also disadvantaged by the cancellation was Scott Redding, who was quickest on Friday morning but is only 25th on combined times. This morning's pacesetter Anthony West missed out due to a poor practice two position as well – he will start 21st.
Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu takes a stunning front row starting position in fourth for his first Moto2 race. The Turkish rider has filled the Technomag-CIP seat formerly occupied by Shoya Tomizawa, who was killed in an accident at Mugello.
Tech 3's Raffaele de Rosa gains his best Moto2 grid position in fifth, followed by Alex de Angelis, Yonny Hernandez, Dominique Aegerter, Yuki Takahashi and Stefan Bradl.
Veteran Alex Debon will be missing from the field. The Spaniard, who is set to retire at the end of the season, fractured his collarbone in a crash this morning.