250cc

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.

125cc

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.