Honda's Dani Pedrosa claimed his second pole position of the season at the Catalan Grand Prix on Saturday in front of a delighted home crowd ahead of fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo.
Meanwhile all of those ahead of Pedrosa in the championship standings struggled for pace, with leader Maverick Viñales a lowly ninth, Andrea Dovizioso seventh and Valentino Rossi 13th.
Marc Marquez meanwhile fell twice, putting him out of contention of the front-row and the Honda rider will start fourth behind Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci.
Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro starts an impressive fifth ahead of Avintia's Hector Barbera.
Dovizioso heads up row three ahead of Q1 graduates Jonas Folger and Viñales in a tough day for the Yamaha machines.
Aspar team rider Alvaro Bautista completes the top ten and was another multiple crasher on Saturday, with Pramac's Scott Redding and Andrea Iannone in P11 and P12 respectively.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow crashed at Turn 10 during his final run, with his timed lap only good enough for P17.
Sylvain Guintoli missed qualifying due to illness, although not believed to be serious, whilst Bradley Smith has been declared unfit to race following a finger injury sustained during final practice.
Discussion about this post