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World championship leader Dani Pedrosa claimed pole on home soil today as he qualified fastest for Sunday’s Catalan MotoGP.
The 27-year-old, who hails from Sabadell, barely a half hour’s drive from the Montmelo track, set the fastest ever lap at Montmelo with a ride of 1min 40.893 secs, more than half a second ahead of Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in second and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo in third.
Pedrosa set the record time midway through Saturday’s second qualifying session and was never threatened by the chasing pack although there was a lot of late movement in the dying seconds of the session.
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A fine ride by Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista had moved him surprisingly into third place ahead of Lorenzo with less than a minute of qualifying to go.
However, after having to change bikes due to a clutch problem early on in the session, Lorenzo responded with his final lap to briefly move into second with a time of 1min 41.566 secs.
Crutchlow though also posted his best time of the afternoon right at the end of the session to leapfrog Lorenzo and ensure he will split the Spanish championship rival on the front row of the grid.
There was disappointment for one of the other title contenders 20-year-old Marc Marquez, though, as after being fastest in Saturday morning’s practice session he could only manage sixth behind American Nicky Hayden.
Six-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi‘s frustrating campaign also continued as after setting the pace in Friday’s practice sessions, he qualified over a second down on Pedrosa’s time and will start in seventh.
Grids for Sunday’s Catalan motorcycling Grand Prix after Saturday’s qualifying session:
Moto GP
1. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 1min 40.893sec
2. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha Tech3) + 0.608sec
3. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) + 0.673
4. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda Gresini) + 0.821
5. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) + 0.907
6. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) + 0.949
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) + 1.066
8. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Ducati) + 1.070
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) + 1.160
10. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) + 1.197
