Ducati’s Andrea Iannone will line up on pole position for the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix after narrowly beating Valentino Rossi in a close qualifying session.
The Italian kept up Ducati’s strong practice form to challenge the Yamaha pairing of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in the final Q2 session.
Iannone put in the fastest time with a 1m23.142 to go just under one and a half tenths faster than Rossi.
His Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had held provisional pole earlier in the session but settled for the final spot on the front row, just 0.009s behind second place.
Lorenzo claimed fourth and Marc Marquez recovered to fifth. The Honda rider dislocated his shoulder and was sent to hospital for checks after a crash in FP3 earlier in the day.
Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales, LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding were next up. Aleix Espargaro, Hector Barbera and Eugene Laverty were classified in positions 9-11.
Honda rider Dani Pedrosa’s struggles continued and he finished slowest of the Q2 riders in 12th.
Danilo Petrucci, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro were the first drivers knocked out of qualifying in the first segment.
Yonny Hernandez was 16th, ahead of Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro, rookie Tito Rabat, Alvaro Bautista and Jack Miller, who fell at Turn 4. Stefan Bradl and Loris Baz completed the order.
