Tetsuya Harada will start the 250cc Pacific Grand Prix from pole position after a stunning late lap in the final seconds of today's second session stole the top spot back from Daijiro Katoh by just 0.024secs, with
Marco Melandri ‘best of the rest' in third.
Harada had stolen Katoh's thunder for their second home GP of the year during Friday's first qualifying, while fellow Aprilia riders Melandri and McWilliams had backed up Harada's pace by claiming the remaining front row places, but nearly 1sec off pole.
Into today's second session and Katoh needed to find 0.420secs to deprive the #31 Aprilia of pole, but during the opening ten minutes it was Melandri who set the pace – but he was unable to improve his time.
Harada then began to assert himself on the early part of the session, but despite going 0.5secs quicker than anyone else, he could not better his pole time. Instead the ‘honour' of first improver went to Roberto Rolfo, who put his semi-privateer Aprilia up to seventh with nearly 15 minutes gone, while de Puniet ran wide – and through the Motegi gravel.
Few changes followed and by the half way mark the order was: Harada from Katoh, Melandri, Mc
Williams, Locatelli, Matsudo, Rolfo and now Alzamora, the Spaniard being the first of the early improvers.
Two minutes later and Naoki Matsudo suffered a nasty looking accident (at the same corner where Roberts fell in the previous 500 session) when the back stepped out under power, throwing him forward onto the screen (that he broke with his helmet) before falling off the side of his Yamaha – which then speared left and rammed the retaining wall hard. Fortunately the Japanese rider wasn't caught up with his bike and was able to walk away.
The time continued to tick away with few people able to better their overnight best. The exceptions, with 15mins to go, were Melandri (improved in time but not place) and Alzamora, who was now up to fifth, 1.3secs off Harada.
