Alvaro Bautista

Mapfre Aspar´s Alvaro Bautista was the 250cc category top dog on Friday afternoon, taking provisional pole for Sunday´s Alice Grand Prix de France with a 1´38.479 lap.

The Spaniard leapfrogged Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon in the final moments of the session, which closed proceedings on day one at Le Mans.

Debon was just a tenth of a second down on the former 125cc World Champion, with both onboard the latest Aprilia machinery. Behind them –himself only a tenth of a second slower than Debon- was Marco Simoncelli onboard his Metis Gilera machinery.

Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini and Emmi-Caffe Latte man Thomas Luthi were also in the mix representing Aprilia, ahead of Repsol KTM´s Julian Simon, Gilera rider and former World Champion Manuel Poggiali, Spaniard Aleix Espargaro and Shanghai podium finisher Hiroshi Aoyama. The latter´s Red Bull KTM teammate, standings leader Mika Kallio, was tenth quickest.

There was a high speed lowside crash for Karel Abraham, whilst Hector Barbera suffered a mechanical problem in the opening third of the session and struggled thereafter. Late on, Espargaro experienced difficulties with his exhaust and had to pull over after crossing the line.

© DORNA / CAPSIS International