Iannone delights Italian fans as Marquez provides the drama2015-05-30 11:18Andrea Iannone claimed Ducati’s first pole at Mugello since 2007, while Marc Marquez experienced his worst ever MotoGP™ Qualifying. It was a day of contrasts at the Gran Premio D’Italia as Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone sent the Italian fans at the Autodromo del Mugello into rapture as he claimed his first career MotoGP™ pole position in near perfect conditions, setting the fastest ever top speed recorded by a MotoGP™ bike in the process (350.8kph). Iannone, riding with a fractured humerus sustained during a testing crash at the Tuscany Circuit, took advantage of the softer option tyre available to Ducati to set a 1’46.489, which was almost seven-tenths quicker than Dani Pedrosa’s pole record from 2013. Countering that was the dramatic action involving the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez, as he failed to make it through to Q2 for the first time in his career and will start Sunday’s race from the head of the fifth row in thirteenth. Marquez struggled throughout the day, getting caught out in FP3 and finishing down in eleventh on the combined timesheets. It was only the second time the Spaniard has failed to automatically qualify for Q2, the first being at Mugello in 2013. A crash in FP4 only compounded matters and as Marquez attempted to make it through from Q1 he set a time good enough for second on the timesheets with 2 minutes to go in the session. Thinking that the job was complete, it was then that disaster struck for him and his team. Yonny Hernandez on the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati displaced him in the final seconds, securing the Columbians progress through to Q2 at Marquez’ expense. This means that Marquez will have to start Sunday’s race from the front of the fourth row in 13th his worst ever MotoGP™ Qualifying performance. Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will be a force to be reckoned come Sunday’s race, as he demonstrated in incredibly persistent race pace throughout Free Practice. The double MotoGP™ World Champion was only 0.095s behind Dovizioso in Q2 and will start from second on the grid, a feat made all the more impressive as Lorenzo does not have the softer option tyre available to him. Andrea Dovizioso followed up Iannone’s incredible pole lap by securing third on the grid, making it two Ducati GP15’s on the front row, and the team will be pushing hard for their first win since Stoner’s victory in Australia in 2010. CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow won the battle of the Satellite riders, as he once again impressed during Q2 to finish fourth fastest as the fastest Honda on the grid. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro was another rider who had to grit his teeth as he was suffering from the injury to his right thumb sustained during his Free Practice crash at Le Mans. The Spaniard sought medical advice before the day’s action, and it clearly paid off, as he will start the race from the middle of the front row. To top off an almost perfect day for Ducati, their test rider Michele Pirro managed to set a time good enough for sixth in Q2, and will complete the second row for Sunday’s race, the best qualifying performance from a wild card rider since Ben Spies in 2008 at Indianapolis. Dani Pedrosa on the second Factory Repsol Honda RC213V showed he is recovering from his arm pump surgery by setting the seventh fastest time. The Spaniard will start from the head of the third row, ahead of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi. Rossi once again could not perform as he wanted during qualifying, although he wont be too disappointed to start the race from eighth on the grid, as his last two victories have both been achieved when he started from that position. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales will start the race from ninth on the grid, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro & Bradley Smith in tenth and eleventh respectively. Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in fifteenth, with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda of Scott Redding down in 17th. Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results, the 23-lap race starts at 14:00 local time in Mugello on Sunday. MotoGP™ Qualifying Results 1 - A. Iannone (ITA) DUCATI 1'46.489 2 - J. Lorenzo (SPA) YAMAHA +0.095 3 - A. Dovizioso (ITA) DUCATI +0.121 ----- 1st Open 15 - H. Barbera (SPA) DUCATI +0.861 Lowes leaves rivals trailing in his wake to take pole at Mugello S.Lowes (GBR) The Gran Premio d’Italia TIM will see Britain’s Sam Lowes start from pole position in Moto2™ on his Italian built Speed Up bike. Before the weekend the Mugello track record for Moto2™ stood at 1’52.369 from Pol Espargaro in 2012, this record would not last long however. Already in FP3 Tito Rabat dropped in the 1’51s to set a new best lap around Mugello. All of the top four riders on the grid would set laps in the 1’51s come Qualifying. The Qualifying session got off to a difficult start for Britain’s Sam Lowes as he suffered a crash with half an hour left in the session. Luckily, neither he nor the bike sustained any major damage and after brief repairs by his Speed Up Racing team Lowes was back on track. The Austin race winner then set a stunning 1’51.514, a new pole position record and the fastest ever Moto2™ lap around the Mugello circuit. Mugello is also where Lowes took his first Moto2™ front row in 2014. It was a welcome return to the front row for Dominique Aegerter who has struggled to score points in the opening five rounds. The Swiss rider was a front-runner on the Suter frame last year, but has swapped over to the Kalex chassis, and limited dry testing has made the transition difficult for him and the team. A breakthrough in rear grip gave Aegerter a large confidence boost and a helpful slipstream from teammate Luthi has Aegerter starting from the front row for the first time since Indianapolis last year. Luthi himself was able to manage fourth on the grid. A private test before Le Mans has drastically improved Luthi’s understanding of the Kalex package. Throughout the weekend, Luthi has shown a steady pace and will no doubt be a rider in contention for the podium, if not the win come race day. The 2012 season saw Luthi finish third in the Moto2™ race at Mugello, having also had podiums here in the 250cc and 125cc class. Completing the front row is Tito Rabat who continues to improve his season after a somewhat difficult start. Rabat was 0.360s off pole, but has been able to lap in the mid to low 1.57s throughout the weekend as he and the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS team once again focus primarily on race pace. Traffic during the session hindered several of Rabat’s laps, but the front row start puts him in a strong position to battle for the win on Sunday. Rabat’s last win came at Misano last year. Championship leader Johann Zarco had a quiet Qualifying session, never posing a real threat to the front row. The Frenchman will start from sixth on the grid for the Italian GP; he heads into the race with a 21-point lead over Thomas Luthi. Aside from Lowes, there were crashes for Axel Pons, Robin Mulhauser and Sandro Cortese. All riders were unhurt. Interestingly, Lowes’ 1’51.514 is just 0.123s slower than Marco Melandri’s Qualifying time in the MotoGP™ class. Check out the full Moto2™ Qualifying results, the 21-lap race is due to start at 12:20am local time in Mugello on Sunday. Moto2™ Qualifying Results 1 - S. Lowes (GBR) SPEED UP 1'51.514 2 - D. Aegerter (SWI) KALEX + 0.342 3 - T. Rabat (SPA) KALEX + 0.360 Source: MotoGP Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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