Simoncelli goes swimmingly in wet 250cc Donington practice

With rain showing no sign of abating at Donington Park, the 250cc riders are facing the high probability of a wet second qualifying session for the bwin.com British Grand Prix this afternoon. As such, many turned their attentions to their race settings in the second and final quarter litre practice run.

Race pace was most encouraging for Marco Simoncelli, the winner of the past two Grands Prix and with a front row place provisionally in the bag. The Metis Gilera rider clocked a fastest time of 1´47.055 in the lunchtime session, less than a tenth of a second faster than JiR Team Scot´s Yuki Takahashi.

Pencilled in for a second row start alongside Takahashi, Repsol KTM´s Julian Simon was third quickest over half a second back.

At the scene of his best ever Grand Prix finish, Karel Abraham was only just outside the same second as Simoncelli, surprisingly the fastest Aprilia rider. Provisional poleman Alvaro Bautista was fifth in the free practice outing, ahead of the Red Bull KTM duo of Hiroshi Aoyama and series leader Mika Kallio. Fabrizio Lai and title contenders Alex Debon & Mattia Pasini rounded off the top ten.