Fermin Aldeguer came good on his rapid pace during free practice to secure a dominant pole position for the Australian Moto2 at Phillip Island.

The Spaniard came into qualifying as the hot favourite for pole after topping all three preceding Practice sessions by a comfortable margin over the competition.

And so it proved again when it mattered, the teenager upping his standard again during the crucial Q2 session as he led the way with a 1m 31.888s lap. It marks his second career Moto2 pole position, following on from the first he achieved in Argentina last season.

A dominant showing by the Boscoscuro rider, Aldeguer enjoyed a commanding +0.4s advantage over a competition headed up by Aron Canet, who will again go for that elusive maiden Moto2 win from a front row shared too with Alonso Lopez, who consolidated SpeedUp's excellent day by joining his team-mate at the front of the field.

Joe Roberts produced one of his strongest qualifying performances of the season to place his Italtrans bike fourth on the grid, ahead of Pedro Acosta, the championship leader facing a task to grind out another victory from fifth on the grid but well placed to extend his overall lead with main rival Tony Arbolino behind him in eighth.

Between them sits Jake Dixon in sixth and Sergio Garcia in seventh, while Darryn Binder and Manuel Gonzalez complete the top ten.