Qualifying for Round 2 of Asia Production 250cc was red flagged early in the session when a dog tried to join the action, but at the restart it was the two cylinder Honda CBR of Takehiro Yamamoto that immediately set the pace, banking a time of 1:53.464 on his eighth lap. As his leading rivals got down to business, it was Gerry Salim, Rheza Danica Ahrens and the three Thai Yamahas of Anuparb Sarmoon, Peerapong Boonlert and Peerapong Luiboonpeng who led the chase for the front row positions. Close behind them were Galang Hendra Pratama for Yamaha Indonesia and AP Honda’s Vorapong Malahuan who continued to wring impressive times out of the single cylinder CBR.
Yamamoto’s early lap was good enough for pole position, with the other in-form riders, Salim and Anuparb joining him on the front row. In what could turn out to be a tactical team battle, the Astra Honda of Rheza leads the second row ahead of Yamaha Thailand’s Luiboonpeng and Boonlert. Row three consists of Pratama, Vorapong and the third Astra Honda of Awhin Sanjaya.