San Marino MotoGP Qualifying: Jorge Lorenzo on pole

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo has finished qualifying at the San Marino MotoGP in Italy in pole position. The Spaniard looked strong right from the outset of Q2, beating his own practice times significantly. Lorenzo has already won 5 Grands Prix this year, most recently the Czech GP at Brno. He is also teammate Valentino Rossi’s closest competitor for the championship title – while Rossi is on 236 points, Lorenzo, at 224 is only 12 points behind him, making for a still-open contest.

Reigning double champion Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda finished behind Lorenzo, slower than his countryman by barely over a tenth of a second. He ended qualifying with a time of 1m32.252s.

Rounding up the front row ahead of tomorrow’s Grand Prix was 6-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi, the teammate of Lorenzo. Rossi won the British Grand Prix a fortnight ago in a rain-soaked race that saw several drivers crash out. At today’s qualifying session, however, Lorenzo was miffed with his teammate, saying he could have improved his qualifying time of 1m32.146s by a “couple of tenths” if the Italian had not held him up.

Rossi had been going slowly on the circuit during Lorenzo’s third and final time-setting attempt in qualifying, but the Italian dismissed this, saying “He's on the pole anyway so it's not a big problem.” The Doctor finished the session with a time of 1m32.358s, a little over two-tenths off his teammate’s lap.

Marc Marquez’s Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa had initially looked set to begin tomorrow’s race in the front row, tailing Lorenzo for a significant portion of the session. However, a late lag led him to be pushed down a few spots, and he will now begin tomorrow’s race in the second row in 4th position.

Michele Pirro, Ducati’s third driver alongside the two Andreas – Dovizioso and Iannone – made a charge to finish qualifying in 5th, while his more experienced teammates finished slightly lower down in 7th and 8th spot. Danilo Petrucci of Pramac Racing, who finished the British GP in Silverstone with his career-first MotoGP podium, will begin tomorrow’s race on the third row in 9th position.

A home race for several riders today, most notably among them Rossi, Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso, and Rossi is the reigning champion at the track.