Bautista secures provisional pole

Alvaro Bautista took provisional pole for the 250cc race at Assen on Thursday after coming on top of a three-way battle with Hector Barbera and Marco Simoncelli.

In the end, the Aspar Aprilia rider's 1:39.510 lap was too good for Barbera, on the Toth Aprilia, and the Spaniard was left punching his thigh in frustration as he rolled back to the pits.

Simoncelli had spent most of the 45-minute session trading places with Bautista, but eliminated himself from the scrap with a fall that rendered his Gilera unusable. The two-time winner was thus forced to settle for third.

Aleix Espargaro was fourth fastest ahead of Thomas Luthi and Julian Simon.

Lucas Pesek managed a last-gasp flier to go seventh on the Auto Kelly Aprilia, and by dint of this, championship leader Mika Kallio was bumped down to tenth on the KTM.

Kallio's teammate Hiroshi Aoyama was the only other significant faller in the session, though the Japanese rider was uninjured.

Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Alvaro Bautista Mapfre Aspar Team 1:39.510 22 2. Hector Barbera Team Toth Aprilia 1:39.741 + 0.231 21 3. Marco Simoncelli Metis Gilera 1:39.978 + 0.468 18 4. Aleix Espargaro Lotus Aprilia 1:40.210 + 0.700 22 5. Thomas Luthi Emmi - Caffe Latte 1:40.455 + 0.945 22 6. Julian Simon Repsol KTM 250cc 1:40.686 + 1.176 20 7. Lukas Pesek Auto Kelly - CP 1:40.742 + 1.232 21 8. Alex Debon Lotus Aprilia 1:40.744 + 1.234 20 9. Yuki Takahashi JiR Team Scot 250 1:40.796 + 1.286 21 10. Mika Kallio Red Bull KTM 250 1:40.849 + 1.339 19 11. Fabrizio Lai Campetella Racing 1:40.862 + 1.352 19 12. Hector Faubel Mapfre Aspar Team 1:41.178 + 1.668 20 13. Manuel Poggiali Campetella Racing 1:41.180 + 1.670 22 14. Roberto Locatelli Metis Gilera 1:41.285 + 1.775 20 15. Hiroshi Aoyama Red Bull KTM 250 1:41.406 + 1.896 18 16. Ratthapark Wilairot Thai Honda PTT SAG 1:41.543 + 2.033 20 17. Mattia Pasini Polaris World 1:41.633 + 2.123 21 18. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 1:41.680 + 2.170 21 19. Imre Toth Team Toth Aprilia 1:43.108 + 3.598 21 20. Eugene Laverty Blusens Aprilia 1:43.245 + 3.735 17 21. Alex Baldolini Matteoni Racing 1:43.264 + 3.754 18 22. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia 1:45.467 + 5.957 22 23. Frederik Watz Jaap Kingma Racing 1:45.836 + 6.326 6 24. Russel Gomez Blusens Aprilia 1:45.974 + 6.464 8

Kallio leads KTM 1-2 at Shanghai

Bautista takes home pole in Spain

Hulkenberg secures pole at Mugello

Simoncelli snatches win from Bautista