MotoGP Misano: Jorge Lorenzo takes first pole since May
Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first MotoGP pole position in four months at Misano in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix
Lorenzo was the man to beat throughout the 15-minute session, lapping nearly half-a-second faster than Marc Marquez on their first flying laps with a 1m32.310s.
The pair both improved on the next time around, Lorenzo to a new lap record of 1m32.076s to maintain a 0.465 second margin over the championship leader when riders returned to the pits.
When they headed back out with five minutes to, the pair played a game of cat-and-mouse exiting pitlane, with Lorenzo reluctant to have Marquez lapping behind him.
It was Marquez who ultimately led the way with Lorenzo dropping further behind, but the Honda rider did not improve on his 1m32.443s lap.
There was still more to come from Lorenzo, and he secured his first pole since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May, by improving again on his final tour.
Lorenzo's 1m31.868s is a new lap record and the first sub-1m32s lap around Misano on a MotoGP bike, and the third-straight year he will start the race from pole position.
His Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was a lowly seventh after the first runs, but moved to within 0.266s of Lorenzo after venturing back out.
That effort was cancelled for exceeding track limits at Turn 16, however Rossi improved again on the following lap in the final minute.
Rossi's 1m32.216s initially moved him to within 0.140s of Lorenzo, before Lorenzo's final lap pushed that margin back out to 0.348s.
Suzuki's Maverick Vinales moved up to third in the closing moments, 0.513s slower than the man he will replace at Yamaha in 2017, while Marquez wound up fourth.
With Andrea Iannone ruled out after sustaining a fractured vertebra on Friday, Ducati moved tester Michele Pirro over from his bike to Iannone's on Saturday.
That meant Pirro had to contest the first phase of qualifying, but he progressed safely, and then qualified in fifth place, just 0.024s slower than Marquez and 0.210s up on Ducati regular Andrea Dovizioso in sixth.
Cal Crutchlow was the top satellite rider in seventh for LCR Honda, ahead of Dani Pedrosa, while Aleix Espargaro crashed at Turn 10 in the final minute and wound up ninth, one spot ahead of his brother, Friday pacesetter Pol Espargaro.
Alvaro Bautista gave Aprilia its best qualifying result of the year with 12th, one spot ahead of team-mate Stefan Bradl - who fell one place short of a Q2 berth - while Alex Lowes will start his second MotoGP race from 14th on the grid.
STARTING GRID
Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1m31.868s | - |
2 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1m32.216s | 0.348s |
3 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | 1m32.381s | 0.513s |
4 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1m32.443s | 0.575s |
5 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | 1m32.467s | 0.599s |
6 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1m32.677s | 0.809s |
7 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | 1m32.743s | 0.875s |
8 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1m32.859s | 0.991s |
9 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1m32.918s | 1.050s |
10 | Pol Espargaro | Tech3 Yamaha | 1m33.002s | 1.134s |
11 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Ducati | 1m33.301s | 1.433s |
12 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1m33.929s | 2.061s |
13 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | 1m33.399s | 1.531s |
14 | Alex Lowes | Tech3 Yamaha | 1m33.635s | 1.767s |
15 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | 1m33.716s | 1.848s |
16 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar Ducati | 1m33.772s | 1.904s |
17 | Scott Redding | Pramac Ducati | 1m33.989s | 2.121s |
18 | Tito Rabat | Marc VDS Honda | 1m34.302s | 2.434s |
19 | Yonny Hernandez | Aspar Ducati | 1m34.465s | 2.597s |
20 | Xavi Fores | Avintia Ducati | 1m35.161s | 3.293s |
1001 | Jack Miller | Marc VDS Honda | 1m33.847s | 1.979s |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments