Polaris World Aprilia rider Bradley Smith was the only rider in the top four to improve his time from the first qualifying session as Sergio Gadea took pole from him in overall 125cc qualifying at Le Mans.

The conditions were a good deal warmer during Saturday's session, leading to Gadea lapping 0.87 seconds slower than on the day before.

However the Spaniard still hung on to pole by just 0.025 from the British prospect.

Stefan Bradl and world championship leader Simone Corsi kept their third- and fourth-placed starts to complete Sunday's front row.

Sandro Cortese was one of the few front-running riders to make significant progress, jumping from tenth to fifth, while world champion Gabor Talmacsi improved to a more modest eighth.

Overall qualifying:

1. Gadea (Aprilia)

2. Smith (Aprilia) +0.025

3. Bradl (Aprilia) +0.195

4. Corsi (Aprilia) +0.196

5. Cortese (Aprilia) +0.296

6. di Meglio (Derbi) +0.441

7. Terol (Aprilia) +0.601

8. Talmacsi (Aprilia) +0.695

9. Rabat (Honda) +0.829

10. Espargaro (Derbi) +0.970

12. Redding (Aprilia) +1.278

15. Webb (Aprilia) +1.359

Crash / Eurosport