Debón crashes after securing 250cc pole

A late crash in qualifying resulted in Alex Debón’s session ending prematurely with only a minute left, but the Spaniard had already recorded the best lap to take pole position before losing the back end of his bike in turn one.

Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens rider Debón’s lap of 1’36.116 – set on his 20th and last of the session before his run off – was an improvement on his own time which had already placed him at the top of the timesheet. He was taken to the Clinica Mobile, where a suspected broken rib was diagnosed, with confirmation of his participation in Sunday’s race expected on the morning of the GP.

Following Debón onto the front row of the grid, Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) improved on his free practice times to take second spot, with Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) in third and fourth respectively.

Hiroshi Aoyama, who needs to finish in only eleventh place in Sunday’s race to take the 2009 World title, will lead the second row, accompanied by Thomas Luthi (Emmi - Caffe Latte), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Mattia Pasini (Paddock GP Racing Team).

Mike di Meglio, who was fastest in the second free practice, crashed early on but came back out to finish 15th fastest.