MONTMELO, Spain: Spain’s Dani Pedrosa, on a Honda, took pole position for today’s Catalunya MotoGP as he finished ahead of Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo and team-mate Marc Marquez, the championship leader, yesterday.
It was the 45th pole position for the former 250cc world champion and his 26th in MotoGP as he timed 1min 40.985sec to outpace compatriots Lorenzo, by 0.115sec, and Marquez, who is chasing a seventh straight victory, by 0.150sec.
Pedrosa’s performance ended the pole position winning streak of Marquez, who walked away from a crash towards the end of the session, and will be the first time since Motelgi last year Marquez will not start at the front of the grid.
He will carry a healthy 53-point lead over Rossi into Sunday’s race at the Montmelo circuit while Pedrosa is just one point further back in the championship standings.
Germany’s Stefan Bradl will lead the second row as he finished fourth fastest at 0.235sec on a Honda LCR, with Rossi alongside him, 0.305sec slower than Pedrosa.
Another Spaniard, Aleix Espargaro, who was fastest in Friday’s practice on his Yamaha Forward, completes the second row.
In qualifying for the Moto2 Grand Prix, Spain continued to dominate the weekend as Esteve Rabat rode his Kalex bike to pole position.AFP
