DE ANGELIS POLE FOR MOTO2

ITALIAN Alex De Angelis starts from pole position for the Moto2 Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Sunday, October 17.

It is his first pole since he was qualified fastest for the 250cc class at the British Grand Prix at Donington in 2007.

De Angelis (JiR Motobi) has been consistently one of the fastest riders in the Moto2 class since the first practice session on Friday afternoon.

Although Englishman Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Suter) topped the time sheets on Saturday morning with a 1m 35.297s lap, De Angelis managed third fastest time, 1m 35.369, just behind Andrea Iannone's Fimmco Speed Up machine (1m 35.354s).

In that session, the track temperature was just 12 degrees.

However, in Saturday afternoon's qualifying, the lap times were not much faster, despite the track being 12 degrees warmer - at 24 degrees.

In this session, De Angelis topped the charts with a 1m 35.148s effort while Redding was next at 1m 35.378s - slightly slower than he'd been on a colder track in the morning!

It is the fourth time he has started from second place in the Moto2 class this year. Redding will be aiming to become the youngest ever rider to win an intermediate-class Grand Prix, to add to his record of being the youngest ever rider to win a 125cc GP race.

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing Suter) qualified third fastest at 1m 35.578s with Mike Di Meglio taking the final spot on the front row with 1m 35.696s.

Bradl's second place finish in the 125cc race at Phillip Island in 2008 is the last time he stood on a GP podium.

For the full Moto2 qualifying times, go to: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/AUS/Moto2/QP/Classification.pdf?v1_32f66c3a