The first ever QP2 session in MotoGP with only 12 riders (10 plus the top 2 from QP1 joining them) saw Jorge Lorenzo take the first pole position of the season, his 26th in MotoGP and the 52nd of his career.
The Yamaha rider posted a blistering 1:54.
714, but he had to sweat it as Cal Crutchlow continued to be in stunning form as he was the first rider to head under the 1.
55 mark as he scored the second spot on tomorrow’s starting grid and it was his 9th front row start in MotoGP.
Dani Pedrosa took the third spot and he was a little more than four tenths adrift, while Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez will have to start sixth in his first qualifying session.
Marquez had a small contact with Pedrosa, because the veteran MotoGP rider slowed down on the racing line because he thought he was being used as a tow, which ruined one of Marquez’ fast laps.
A surprisingly effective Andrea Dovizioso in his first qualifying session on the Ducati GP13 missed out on a front row start pipped by Pedrosa by a mere 0.
009.
Stefan Bradl finished fifth while Valentino Rossi completely messed up his qualifying and he was only 7th, almost a second adrift and will have to start from the third row with Alvaro Bautista and MotoGP rookie Bradley Smith who took 9th in his first ever MotoGP qualifying session, while the third MotoGP rookie, Andrea Iannone was 10th after passing QP1 with CRT rider Aleix Espargaro.
Nicky Hayden couldn’t do better than 11th and was more than 1.
9 seconds adrift and 1.
5 seconds slower than his new team mate.
Aleix Espargaro who was the fastest rider in Q1 will start in 12th.
Pramac Ducati’s Ben Spies was unable to make it into QP2, as he suffered a hard crash in FP4 which no doubt hampered his performance.
MotoGP Qatar QP2 results and starting grid: 01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’54.
714 02- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
202 03- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.
437 04- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.
446 05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.
763 06- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.
931 07- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
997 08- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 1.
156 09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
601 10- Andrea Iannone – Energy T.
I.
Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
809 11- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
953 12- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 – + 2.
350 —————————————————-01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 02- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 03- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V 04- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V 06- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V 07- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 08- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V 09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 10- Andrea Iannone – Energy T.
I.
Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 11- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 12- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 13- Ben Spies – Ignite Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 14- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 15- Lukas Pesek – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda Suter BMW 16- Yonny Hernandez – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP13 17- Hiroshi Aoyama – Avintia Blusens – BQR FTR 18- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – ART GP13 19- Colin Edwards – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – FTR Kawasaki 20- Danilo Petrucci – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda Suter BMW 21- Claudio Corti – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – FTR Kawasaki 22- Hector Barbera – Avintia Blusens – BQR FTR 23- Bryan Staring – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – FTR Honda MGP13 24- Michael Laverty – Paul Bird Motorsport – PBM 01