French GP: Quali 1, 250cc - Alvaro Takes Provisional Pole

Okay it's abuject to Qualy 2 tomorrow, but if the ugly rumours of rain turn out to be true then there's a decent chance Alvaro will retain the pole he provisionally took this afternoon...

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:38.479
2. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:38.585 + 0.106
3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:38.679 + 0.200
4. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:38.788 + 0.309
5. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1:38.942 + 0.463
6. Julian Simon KTM 1:39.051 + 0.572
7. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 1:39.064 + 0.585
8. Alex Espargaro Aprilia 1:39.184 + 0.705
9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:39.197 + 0.718
10. Mika Kallio KTM 1:39.360 + 0.881
11. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:39.446 + 0.967
12. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1:39.544 + 1.065
13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:39.798 + 1.319
14. R.Wilairot Honda 1:39.965 + 1.486
15. R.Locatelli Gilera 1:40.171 + 1.692
16. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:40.182 + 1.703
17. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:40.293 + 1.814
18. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1:40.455 + 1.976
19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1:41.056 + 2.577
20. Federico Sandi Aprilia 1:41.200 + 2.721
21. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:41.365 + 2.886
22. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:41.626 + 3.147
23. D.T.Pradita Yamaha 1:42.847 + 4.368
24. Russell Gomez Aprilia 1:44.040 + 5.561
25. Chow Ho Wan Aprilia 1:45.918 + 7.439