A renowned wet weather specialist, Mike di Meglio showed his dry skills in the opening qualifying session for the 125cc race in Estoril.

The Frenchman recorded a time of 1´47.990 to give him the early advantage of a provisional pole at the Portuguese track, nearly four tenths ahead of Nico Terol.

Two weeks on from his first ever front row and podium, Jack&Jones WRB rider Terol continued to shine as the Estoril circuit dried out, with the second fastest time of the afternoon in the class.

Michael Ranseder pencilled his name on the grid sheet for the front row onboard his I.C. Team Aprilia, with series leader Simone Corsi joining teammate Terol on the frontline.

Tomoyoshi Koyama heads the provisional second row, but his fast times came at a cost. The Japanese rider suffered a huge highside late in the session, flinging him into the gravel. Sandro Cortese and the Bancaja Aspar duo of Sergio Gadea & Gabor Talmacsi also put themselves on an initial second row.

The rider who has taken pole position at the opening two races, Bradley Smith was off the pace in the first qualifying run. The Polaris World man could only clock the 23rd fastest time, and the Briton will be praying that the rain stays away from Estoril tomorrow as he looks to make a significant improvement.