Zoom Sergio Gadea

Sergio Gadea put himself in the driving seat at Le Mans in the afternoon qualifying session, taking provisional pole on the 125cc grid with a 1´43.515 lap onboard his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia.

The winner of the 2007 race at the French circuit held off Britain´s Bradley Smith –himself a former podium finisher in Le Mans and the man responsible for three poles from a possible four thus far in 2008- by just under a tenth of a second.

The duo were joined by Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing´s Stefan Bradl and World Championship leader Simone Corsi in pencilling their names on the front row.

As things stand, Mike di Meglio will be heading the second row at his home race, still less than half a second down on Gadea. Accompaniment comes in the respective forms of Esteve Rabat, Pol Espargaro and Joan Olive, a three-pronged Spanish attack from the second line.

Another pair of Spaniards, Marc Marquez and Efren Vazquez, had the biggest collision of the session, although both were unharmed in the incident.

© DORNA / CAPSIS International