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Qualifying report

Barcelona MotoGP: Pedrosa on pole, Marquez crashes twice

Dani Pedrosa beat Jorge Lorenzo in qualifying to take pole position for the Catalan Grand Prix, as Marc Marquez crashed twice.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Second place qualifying Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Polesitter Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, second place Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Third place in qualifying Danilo Petrucci, Pramac Racing

While Pedrosa secured his second pole of the season - his other coming at Jerez last month - Yamaha pair Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi could only manage ninth and 13th at Barcelona.

Marquez was in the thick of the action throughout, the reigning world champion crashing five minutes in, after losing the front end at Turn 3.

He was able to get his Honda restarted and rode it back to the pits, but following a crash in FP4 earlier, he did not have a second bike to switch over to.

Mechanics quickly repaired the RC213V, including fitting a new footpeg and bending the right handlebar back into place, and he rejoined with five minutes left on the clock.

At the time, Lorenzo led the way with a 1m44.201s, until Pedrosa turned a 1m43.870s to go three tenths clear with three minutes remaining.

There was no change at the top thereafter, with Pedrosa taking his third pole position at Barcelona, while Lorenzo recorded his first front row start with Ducati.

Marquez jumped back onto the front row and into third behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo with his first flying lap after the repairs, completed with just over one minute left on the clock.

He was demoted to fourth but fastest of all through the first sector on his next lap, only to crash for a second time in the 15 minutes at Turn 5.

Fresh from his Mugello podium, Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci claimed his maiden front-row start after demoting Marquez to fourth, while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Avintia Ducati’s Hector Barbera will start fifth and sixth.

Lorenzo’s Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso will line up start seventh, ahead of the two men who progressed to the main session from Q1, Tech 3 Yamaha’s Jonas Folger and Vinales.

Rossi will start 13th, after missing out on a Q2 berth by just 0.040s on his final lap, with Folger’s teammate Jonas Folger a further 0.020s adrift.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow crashed at Turn 10 on his final run and the Briton will start 17th, while Aprilia rookie Sam Lowes encountered more mechanical problems.

His primary bike was unable to start when Q1 began due to a fuel-pump problem and Lowes qualified 21st on his second bike, having missed the bulk of the 15 minutes of Q1.

Suzuki rider Sylvain Guintoli missed qualifying due to illness, while KTM’s Bradley Smith was ruled out for qualifying due to a finger injury sustained earlier on Saturday.

Q2 results:

Pos#RiderBikeLapsTimeGap
1 26 spain Dani Pedrosa  Honda 7 1'43.870  
2 99 spain Jorge Lorenzo  Ducati 7 1'44.201 0.331
3 9 italy Danilo Petrucci  Ducati 7 1'44.220 0.350
4 93 spain Marc Marquez  Honda 5 1'44.320 0.450
5 41 spain Aleix Espargaro  Aprilia 7 1'44.348 0.478
6 8 spain Hector Barbera  Ducati 7 1'44.381 0.511
7 4 italy Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati 6 1'44.451 0.581
8 94 germany Jonas Folger  Yamaha 5 1'44.600 0.730
9 25 spain Maverick Viñales  Yamaha 8 1'44.620 0.750
10 19 spain Alvaro Bautista  Ducati 6 1'44.740 0.870
11 45 united_kingdom Scott Redding  Ducati 7 1'44.852 0.982
12 29 italy Andrea Iannone  Suzuki 8 1'44.928 1.058

Q1 results:

Pos#RiderBikeLapsTimeGap
1 94 germany Jonas Folger  Yamaha 7 1'44.239  
2 25 spain Maverick Viñales  Yamaha 8 1'44.621 0.382
3 46 italy Valentino Rossi  Yamaha 7 1'44.661 0.422
4 5 france Johann Zarco  Yamaha 4 1'44.681 0.442
5 43 australia Jack Miller  Honda 7 1'44.829 0.590
6 76 france Loris Baz  Ducati 6 1'44.919 0.680
7 35 united_kingdom Cal Crutchlow  Honda 7 1'45.162 0.923
8 17 czech_republic Karel Abraham  Ducati 8 1'45.641 1.402
9 53 spain Tito Rabat  Honda 7 1'45.741 1.502
10 44 spain Pol Espargaro  KTM 7 1'45.887 1.648
11 22 united_kingdom Sam Lowes  Aprilia 3 1'48.803 4.564

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