Sam Lowes has qualified on pole for the Aragon Moto2 Grand Prix while Remy Gardner dug deep to salvage a berth on the front row.
Lowes rode his Elf Marc VDS entry to a 1:51.778s on his second flying lap and that time would not be beaten, with Gardner ending up 0.279s off the pace in second spot.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider went out initially on used tyres and logged a 1:52.825s, fifth-best at that point, before a ragged run through Turns 14 and 15 on his next lap.
Gardner thus aborted and, as he waited in the pits at MotorLand Aragon, was shuffled outside of the top 10.
The championship leader was 14th by the time he started his final lap, during which he ran a little wide in the Reverse Corkscrew, slid his way around Turn 10, and barely got his Kalex into Turn 12.
However, the commitment paid off when Gardner stopped the clock with a time of 1:52.057s, earning a first front row start in three rounds.
KTM Ajo team-mate and main title rival Raul Fernandez, who is carrying a broken right hand this weekend, subsequently jumped from ninth to third with a 1:52.084s.
Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP40) therefore winds up fourth on the grid after topping Qualifying 1, and will be joined on Row 2 by Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar).
The rest of the top 10 in Qualifying 2 was Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini), Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Team VR46), and Marcos Ramirez (American Racing).
The 21-lap Moto2 race is due to start on Sunday at 20:20 AEST.
