Lorenzo retrouve la pole position à Brno / Lorenzo destroys lap record to take pole

             

Le Majorquin a décroché sa seconde pole position de l’année en pulvérisant le record du circuit samedi à l’Automotodrom Brno.

Après avoir été le plus rapide vendredi lors de la première journée du Grand Prix bwin de République Tchèque, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) avait confirmé son excellente forme sur le circuit de Brno en battant le record du circuit dès la troisième séance d’essais, samedi matin, et a frappé encore plus fort en qualifications.

                 

Le double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ n’a en effet pas mis longtemps à améliorer le nouveau record du circuit tchèque et, alors qu’il semblait déjà assuré de la pole, a de nouveau progressé sur sa dernière sortie pour conclure avec un chrono de 1’54.989, faisant de lui le premier et pour l’instant unique pilote moto à tourner en moins d’1’55 à Brno. Il s’agit de sa seconde pole position de la saison après celle de Jerez et sa troisième depuis l’épreuve de Misano de l’an dernier, où il avait remporté son unique pole de la saison 2014.

                      

Lorenzo a bien fait d’insister jusque dans son dernier run puisque Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), qui était à une demi-seconde de son compatriote à mi-séance, a lui aussi réalisé un sensationnel dernier tour pour revenir à seulement 0.074s de la pole, avec un chrono de 1’55.063. 

Le Champion en titre, vainqueur des deux dernières courses, partira donc au milieu d’une première ligne que complètera Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), qui a récupéré la troisième position au dernier moment, en étant 0.364s moins vite que son coéquipier.

                   

Privé de la première ligne par son compatriote, Andrea Iannone (Ducati) partira en quatrième position avec une fois de plus l’objectif de rester le plus près possible du podium en course. Il partagera la deuxième ligne avec Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), qui cherchera à ramener un bon résultat après ne pas avoir fait mieux que neuvième sur les cinq dernières courses.

                    

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), qui avait dominé la Q1, et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), vainqueur à Brno l’an dernier, s’élanceront pour leur part de la troisième ligne, devant Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), le deuxième pilote issu de la Q1, Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), qui réalisait sa meilleure qualification de l’année et assurait la présence d’un pilote Open en Q2, et Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing).

                                  

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) se sont respectivement qualifiés aux 17e et 18e positions, derrière Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) et Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

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Jorge Lorenzo smashes the lap record to secure pole position ahead of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi at the Czech GP.

              

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo obliterated the lap record at the Automotodrom Brno to take an incredible pole position at the bwin Grand Prix Ceské Republiky. The two-time MotoGP™ World Champion secured his second pole of the season with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and championship leader Valentino Rossi completing the front row.

Unlike on Friday when track temperatures reached over 50˚C, conditions were almost ideal for Q2 at the iconic Brno track. A track temperature of 42˚C and a light breeze meant grip levels were at their optimum, and the thousands of fans at the 5.2km Autodromo Brno were treated to one of the most exciting qualifying sessions of the year. As always, the outcome came down to the final few seconds of the session when riders popped in a fresh softer option rear tyre and headed out on their last flying laps.

Lorenzo had already broken Cal Crutchlow’s 2013 pole record in FP3 (1’55.527), and after his first run found himself on top of the timesheets with a 1’55.238. Things would just get better for the Spaniard on his second run, as he managed to set the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle around the circuit, and the first ever under the 1’55 barrier. Lorenzo’s record-breaking 1’54.989 securing his second pole position of the season and 32nd in his MotoGP™ career in the process.

                 

Marc Marquez followed up his back-to-back wins at Indianapolis and the Sachsenring by qualifying in second. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion missing out on pole by just 0.074s as he also decimated the previous pole record.

                 

Current championship leader Valentino Rossi had to dig deep in an effort to cure his qualifying woes and will start Sunday’s race from the back of the front row. The Italian had completed a Yamaha 1-2 behind Lorenzo in FP3 & FP4, but could not quite match the pace of his teammate in Q2, finishing 0.364s behind Lorenzo.

                 

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.401s) stuck with the older version of his GP15 to set the fourth fastest time on his very last lap. The Italian had received an updated version of the Desmosedici for Brno with a new engine and fairing, but opted for the older model for the entirety of the session.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith was the leading Satellite rider, and will start from the middle of the second row after putting in his best qualifying performance of the season. Smith has shown an impressive race pace throughout the weekend and found himself just 0.471s behind Lorenzo in fifth.

                   

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+0.946s) was almost a further 0.5s back as he made use of his updated GP15 to secure sixth on the grid. Maverick Viñales on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR once again out qualified his more experienced teammate and will start from seventh on the grid.

                    

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had earlier made it through as the fastest rider from Q1 and will start from eighth. A rather battered and bruised Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda recovered from his crash in FP2 to set the ninth fastest time.

                   

CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow had to settle for tenth, after he was also forced to battle it out in Q1. The British rider will start from the front of the 4th row, with Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera in eleventh on the leading Open class bike after he made it directly through to Q2 for the first time this season. Octo Pramac Racing Yonny Hernandez, who also made it through automatically to Q2, completes the fourth row.

                

Scott Redding will start from 14th on the grid after failing to make it through to Q2, while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) is the leading Open Honda rider in 20th.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results, the 22-lap race is due to start at 14:00 local time on Sunday.

MotoGP ; Márquez prend la pole position à Indianapolis / Marquez makes it three out of three

Marc Márquez sera en pole position pour viser une cinquième victoire d’affilée à l’Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

           

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) n’aura pas laissé le suspense durer en qualifications et s’est installé en pole provisoire dès son premier run avant d’ensuite améliorer son meilleur temps pour se confirmer en pole position, sa cinquième cette année et sa troisième consécutive à Indianapolis, où il avait gagné ces deux dernières années en MotoGP™ mais aussi les deux années d’avant en Moto2™.

Invaincu aux Etats-Unis depuis 2012, le Champion en titre partira avec l’avantage de pole pour essayer de remporter une septième victoire consécutive sur le sol américain et a fini les qualifications avec un chrono de 1’31.884, à un peu plus de deux dixièmes du record du circuit qu’il avait établi l’an dernier. 

Son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) et Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) l’accompagneront en première ligne après avoir respectivement terminé à 0.171s et 0.302s de la pole. Premier pilote à sortir de la pit-lane, Lorenzo, dernier pilote ne courant pas sur Honda à avoir gagné à Indy (2009), avait opté pour une stratégie à trois tentatives mais n’a pas pu se montrer aussi rapide que ses concurrents, qui tenteront d’offrir au HRC une sixième victoire consécutive au Brickyard.

                   

Délogé de la première ligne par Lorenzo, Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda) partira finalement en tête de la deuxième, devant Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), auteur du meilleur temps en Q1 premier pilote Ducati sur la grille, et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3).

Dixième sur le classement combiné de vendredi, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) demeurait à plus d’une demi-seconde de la première place et s’est qualifié entre Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) sur la troisième ligne. 

                  

Deuxième de la Q1 derrière Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) n’a pas pu faire mieux que dixième en Q1, devant Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), qui est tombé le vendredi comme le samedi, et Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), douzième à 0.930s de Márquez.

Du côté de la catégorie Open, Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) conservait l’avantage pris vendredi et s’installait à la quatorzième position sur la grille de départ, derrière Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS). 

                   

Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), qui fait ses débuts sur la RS-GP ce week-end, a devancé son nouveau coéquipier Álvaro Bautista pour prendre la dix-huitième position. 

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) a de son côté chuté dans le dernier virage du tracé américain en Q1 et partira de la 22e position, devant Toni Elías, qui remplace Karel Abraham (AB Motoracing) ce week-end.

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Marc Marquez makes it three pole positions in a row at the Indianapolis Speedway as his teammate Dani Pedrosa completes a Honda 1-2.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez continued his dominance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make it three pole positions in a row at the legendary US circuit. The reigning MotoGP Champion has own the last two races at the circuit from pole position, and signs are ominous that he might do the same this weekend after he was the only rider to break the 1’32 barrier during Q2. The day got even better for Repsol Honda as Dani Pedrosa (+0.171s) managed to finish second fastest and secure a 1-2 on the grid for the Factory Team.

Marquez set a 1’31.884 on his just his second flying lap during the session in near perfect conditions as the sun broke through the clouds and the track temperature reached 40ºC at the ‘Brickyard’. Try as they might, no one else had an answer to the Spaniard’s pace in a frantic end to the session, and it was only Pedrosa who managed to get within three-tenths of the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion.

                

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.302s) will start from the back of the front row, as the man second in the MotoGP™ title battle looks to close the 13-point gap in the standings to his teammate Valentino Rossi. Cal Crutchlow (+0.324s) was the leading Satellite rider and will start from the head of the second row in fourth on the CWM LCR Honda.

The big surprise of the session was the pace of Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci (+0.359s), who finished fastest in Q1 and managed to carry that pace into Q2 to start from fifth on the grid as the fastest Ducati. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith (+0.385s), who had been second fastest overall in practice, will start the race from sixth ahead of the Factory GP15 of Andrea Iannone in seventh.

                  

Current championship leader Valentino Rossi was third on the timesheets with 7 mins to go, but was knocked down to 8th by the end of the session and will have to work hard to try and preserve his advantage in the championship standings on Sunday. The  Italian won’t be panicking just yet though as two of his race win this season (Qatar and Argentina) have both come from 8th on the grid.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales completes the third row in ninth while Andrea Dovizioso on the second GP15 will start from tenth on the grid, with the Italian having to fight his way through Q2 after finishing 11th on the combined timesheets after practice.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and his brother Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) make up the rest of the fourth row in 11th and 12th respectively, with less than a second separating the top 12 riders. To give you an indication how close it was, Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) only just missed out on making it through to Q2 by 0.079s and will start from 13th.

                 

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 14th, with Australian Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda) in 16th. Stefan Bradl (17th) out qualified his teammate Alvaro Bautista (18th) on his debut for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini while the Aspar MotoGP Team duo of Eugene Laverty and Nicky Hayden will start from 19th and 20th on the grid respectively.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Q2 results, the 27-lap race starts at 14:00 local time in Indianapolis on Sunday.

MotoGP ; Un Márquez record s'offre une nouvelle pole au Sachsenring / Marquez secures pole for German GP

Marc Márquez a pulvérisé son propre record du circuit pour décrocher sa sixième pole position consécutive en Allemagne.

           

En pole position et invaincu au Sachsenring depuis 2010, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a de nouveau excellé sur le circuit allemand samedi après-midi lors des qualifications pour la neuvième manche de la saison MotoGP™ 2015 et s’est offert une nouvelle pole position, sa quatrième de l’année suite à celles d’Austin, de Termas de Rio Hondo et du Mans. 

Solidement installé en tête de la feuille de temps depuis le début du week-end, le Champion en titre n’a pas eu de rival à sa hauteur dans l’exercice du contre-la-montre et a battu son propre record du circuit, établi en qualifications l’année dernière, de six dixièmes de seconde. 

Son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), vainqueur au Sachsenring quatre fois en MotoGP™, s’est assuré un départ en seconde position et a conclu à près de trois dixièmes de seconde de la pole. 

Seul autre pilote à être passé sous la barre des 1’21, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) n’a pas pu rivaliser avec des Honda extrêmement à l’aise sur le tracé allemand mais sera au moins en première ligne après avoir terminé à trois dixièmes de seconde de Pedrosa. 

                

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) s’est pour sa part installé en tête de la deuxième ligne, devant Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing), qui avait été le plus rapide en Q1 et a parfaitement réussi sa Q2. Le pilote colombien, cinquième à 0.779s de Márquez, partira devant le leader du Championnat du Monde, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), qui complètera la deuxième ligne après avoir été en pole deux semaines plus tôt à Assen et n’aura donc été en première ligne qu’une seule fois sur la première moitié de la saison 2015. 

Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), son frère cadet Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), qui avait commencé sa séance en endommageant sa bulle d’un coup de casque suite à un début de highside, seront quant à eux en troisième ligne et étaient les trois derniers pilotes à moins d’une seconde du leader. 

                

Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) seront en quatrième ligne.

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), treizième devant Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0), sera le premier pilote Open sur la grille tandis que les Français Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) partiront respectivement 20e et 21e. 

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The Repsol Honda rider’s 1’20.336 lap was enough to net him first position on the grid for this weekend’s MotoGP™ battle.

This is Marc Marquez's 6th consecutive pole at the Sachsenring, leading to victory for the Spaniard for the last 5 years in a row. He said: "We will try for six wins, the most important thing is the confidence with the bike is really high. In this circuit I always get good results but this weekend I feel good and I’m constant. I was also fast over one lap so I’m happy, also happy with the work that we have done. Tomorrow is the most important so we have to keep on like this."

Joining him on the front row are his team mate Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha).

               

Second place on the grid is Pedrosa's best qualifying result of the season: "Yeah, I was happy with my first feeling in the first run but Crutchlow didn’t see me and ruined my lap. Unfortunately I had to stop and change tyres and I wasn’t sure if we could do it on the second tyre because sometimes you don’t get the same feeling. Actually I produced a good lap and to get the front row at this track is very important. Hopefully we can make a little step tomorrow as Marquez’s pace is very high and we’re still missing a little. Hopefully we can make a good start and make the right tyre choice, which will be critical."

                 

After starting from 8th in Assen, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) is back on qualifying form but concerned by the pace show by the Repsol Honda duo: "Impressive, it seems the Honda has no problems. They’re able to brake later and accelerate very soon. It will be tough to stay with them, I am the first Yamaha to do a 1’20 in this track so I am very happy with this lap time. I did my best and I didn’t get even close to them. I think our goal is to try to get the podium, the victory will be difficult but you never know. The podium is definitely achievable."

                   

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) will start from 4th place, with Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) in a very respectable 5th after having to fight his way through Q1. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) completes the second row in 6th.

                 

The Espargaro brothers will have a chance to wish each other luck before the lights go out, given that they start together on the third row with Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in 7th and Pol (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in 8th.

                 

Rounding out the top 10 are British riders Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda), who start from 9th & 10th respectively.

                

The MotoGP action continues on July 12 at 09:40 local time with the warm up session, with the race to start at 14:00.

Click here for the full MotoGP Q2 results.

Iannone place Ducati en pole position au Mugello / Iannone delights Italian fans as Marquez provides the drama

L’Italien sera en tête de la grille MotoGP™ pour la première fois de sa carrière dimanche au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie.

Suite à une première journée dominée par son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso au Mugello, Andrea Iannone a été le héros du samedi au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie, dont il a décroché la pole position, sa première en catégorie reine, la première de Ducati au Mugello depuis celle de Casey Stoner en 2007 et la première d'un Italien sur une moto italienne à domicile en catégorie reine depuis Giacomo Agostini en 500cc à Imola en 1972.

Affaibli par une blessure au bras gauche, l’Italien, qui avait occupé la pole position à huit reprises en Moto2™, s’est surpassé pour tirer le meilleur de la GP15 ainsi que de son pneu tendre et a signé un nouveau record du Mugello en 1’46.489 ainsi qu’un nouveau record pour la vitesse maximale en MotoGP avec une pointe à 350.8 km en FP4.

Après avoir survolé les essais libres du samedi matin, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a dû se contenter de la seconde position en qualifications mais était pleinement satisfait de son chrono (1’46.584) et demeure le favori à la victoire en raison de la régularité de ses performances en configuration course mais aussi de son palmarès au Mugello, où le Majorquin a obtenu trois victoires et trois secondes places sur les six dernières années.

Dovizioso partira lui aussi de la première ligne après s’être qualifié à 0.121s de son coéquipier et renforçait la présence de Ducati en tête de la grille de l’épreuve italienne. Désormais surnommé Desmo Dovi, l'Italien est déjà monté sur le podium du Mugello en MotoGP™ avec Honda (2010, 2011) ainsi qu'avec Yamaha (2012) et n'a manqué le Top 3 qu'une seule fois cette année, à Jerez.

Inscrit en wildcard sur une Ducati GP15, Michele Pirro a lui aussi réussi sa qualification en prenant la sixième position, derrière Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), quatrième à 0.168s de la pole, et Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui réalisait une excellente opération après avoir participé à la Q1 et en avoir signé le deuxième temps.

La troisième ligne accueillera Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui s’est, à l’instar de son coéquipier, distingué avec d’excellents temps intermédiaires sur le deuxième secteur sinueux de la piste toscane grâce à l’excellente maniabilité de la GSX-RR.

Arrivé en Italie avec quinze points d’avance sur Lorenzo en tête du classement général, Rossi partira en huitième position pour la troisième fois de la saison, comme au Qatar et en Argentine, où il avait remporté ses deux victoires de 2015. Le nonuple Champion du Monde a en fait remporté ses trois dernières victoires depuis la 8e position, dont il était aussi parti avant de s'imposer en Australie l'an dernier.

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) seront quant à eux en quatrième ligne. Le Colombien avait réalisé le meilleur temps au dernier moment en Q1, reléguant Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) à la troisième position et le privant donc d’une participation en Q2. 

En difficulté et tombé à la mi-journée dans le virage n°1 lors de la séance FP4, le Champion du Monde en titre n’avait eu à passer par la Q1 qu’une seule fois auparavant, sur le même circuit, en 2013, et manquait la Q2 pour la toute première fois de sa carrière. Il s’élancera de la treizième position et s'était jusqu'ici toujours qualfié sur l'une des deux premières lignes depuis ses débuts en MotoGP™.

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a de son côté été le plus rapide en catégorie Open et partira quinzième, derrière Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), tandis que les Français Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) seront respectivement 18e et 22e sur la grille de départ.

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Andrea 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.

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.

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: “I am very pleased with how things went today! For sure in my condition this result was in no way expected, but in the end me and my team did a great job and we managed to improve. The only problem I have at the moment is my shoulder condition, because it needs more time to get back to 100%: tomorrow will be a tough race but I will not give in”

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 done, 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: “We can't be happy about today, because this was the worst qualifying result that we have had in MotoGP. Starting in the morning, we didn't use the new tyre and that took us into Q1 – in which we had a problem that prevented us from progressing to Q2. Nevertheless, I think we have a good pace for tomorrow, although it is clear that starting from so far back we will suffer a lot.”

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will be a force to be reckoned with 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: “We must be proud of our performance, because we improved the bike, which has been our goal for today. We had to improve our pace by half a second and maybe we didn‘t do that but we did shave off three-tenths. Today has been a great day. We couldn‘t get the pole position, but second place is great.”

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: “It was a great qualifying session for our team, because there are two Ducati GP15 bikes on the front row. I had a good feeling with the bike when I did my lap, and this is very important in view of the race because it means that we have the speed to be able to fight for the leading positions.”

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: “Overall I was happy, because I tried a hard front tyre and I was happy with that, so much so I even qualified with it. I just missed out on the front row again, but I made a small mistake which was my own fault.”

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: “I improved a lot and my lap time was not so bad, but it wasn‘t enough. All the top riders were able to improve their pace a lot, so apart from my starting position on the third row, which is not fantastic, I‘m quite happy about today.”

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.

Márquez en pole au Mans pour la quatrième année d’affilée / Marquez takes pole, Lorenzo bides his time…

Le Champion du Monde en titre a brillé en qualifications pour remporter sa troisième pole position de la saison 2015.

Sixième des essais libres de samedi matin au Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a quelque peu surpris par l’excellence de sa performance en qualifications et a décroché sa quatrième pole position consécutive sur le circuit du Mans en tournant une demi-seconde plus vite que ses adversaires.

Le Champion du Monde en titre a signé la pole 2015 en 1’32.246 et n’était vraiment pas loin du record (1’32.042) dont il avait lui-même été l’auteur l’an dernier. 

Constamment aux avant-postes depuis son arrivée au circuit Bugatti, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) s’est confirmé comme l’un des favoris au podium au fil des séances mais n’a par contre pas pu lutter contre Márquez en qualifications et a fini en seconde position, à 0.503s de l’Espagnol.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté pris une troisième place qu’il estimait décevante après un dernier tour raté. Le Majorquin est selon les feuilles de temps le pilote qui dispose du meilleur rythme de course pour la cinquième manche de la saison, ce que Márquez a lui-même reconnu en conférence de presse. 

Derrière le trio de tête, Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), auteur du meilleur temps la veille, se sont assurés un départ en deuxième ligne. 

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) demeure de son côté toujours aussi fâché avec les qualifications et a fini en septième position. Le leader du classement général n’a jamais été en première ligne cette année et a remporté ses deux victoires au Qatar et en Argentine en partant de la huitième position.

Il partagera la troisième ligne avec Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui semble se sentir de mieux en mieux physiquement, et Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing). L’Italien avait dû passer par la séance Q1, dont il avait été le plus rapide, et a ensuite devancé Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing) et Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) en Q2 pour prendre la neuvième position.

Seizième, Stefan Bradl (Athinà Forward Racing) sera la première pilote Open sur la grille de départ et partira juste devant Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) tandis que Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) s’élancera de la 22e position.

The final qualifying session leaves the Honda rider first, but Lorenzo demonstrated a consistent pace that could prove useful on race day...

The final qualifying session of the Monster Energy Grand Prix sees Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) back in pole position for the third time this season. He was over half a second quicker than Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), with Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) left to take third place on the front row in Sunday's race.

The pole position changed hands several times during the final round, but Marquez dropped his time to 1'32.246 to take his third pole position of the season. The World Champion clearly sees Lorenzo as a threat though: "In qualifying we used the best setup that we had found. We were lucky that the track was in good condition which allowed me to ride normally. I am happy with pole position and tomorrow a tough race awaits us, because Jorge especially has a very good pace. We will try to be as close to him as we can!"

Lorenzo seems to agree, believing he can do better: "The conditions were difficult on the track, you have to be careful with slicks and stay confident. We were lucky on the last lap to have 99% of the track dry and I pushed quite a bit. It was a pity that I didn‘t ride any good laps and was slower than I was in FP3. I made a mistake in sector three and lost probably half a second, but I was lucky not to go outside of the track and ride a very good sector four, which put me on the first row.”

Dovizioso was satisfied with a front row start, but also believes he has more pace to extract: “The front row is fine and it is also very important because in MotoGP it’s always essential to start as far up the grid as possible. I could probably have been a bit closer to Marquez and try and go for pole, but in any case I set a good lap time”.

The second row will be headed by Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda). The Brit has remained among the fastest in the weekend's practice sessions. His position also places him as the best satellite rider, ahead of countryman Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who was sixth after leading FP2 on Friday.

Between Crutchlow and Smith, Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) managed a creditable fifth. As we have seen in Free Practice, the rider is recovering after dislocating his shoulder during testing in Mugello.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start seventh in the attempt to defend his lead in the championship standings. His main rivals, Marquez and Lorenzo, will start the race way ahead on the front row, so his chances will lie in choosing the right tyre and an aggressive initial push to avoid losing the front runners.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) continues his comeback after undergoing surgery to solve the problems in his right forearm. Tomorrow he starts from a respectable 8th on the grid and he appears happy with his pace: "This first qualifying session back has not gone badly. We could have gone a little faster but in the end I didn't quite manage it. The positive news is that today I am feeling a little better physically than yesterday and that's a good thing!”

The MotoGP action continues on May 17 at 09:40 local time with the warm up session. The race will commence at 14:00.

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La pole position et le record du circuit pour Lorenzo / Lorenzo sets new lap record to claim pole

Le Majorquin a démontré qu’il serait l’homme à battre au Grand Prix bwin d’Espagne en dominant clairement les qualifications.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) sera en pole position pour la première fois de l’année et la première fois depuis septembre 2014 après avoir dominé essais libres et qualifications au Circuit de Jerez. Le double Champion du Monde était assuré de la pole mais est parvenu à battre son meilleur temps de trois dixièmes pour établir un nouveau record du circuit en 1’37.910. 

Malgré sa blessure à la main gauche, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) sera bien présent en première ligne et occupera la deuxième position sur la grille, devant Andrea Iannone (Ducati), tandis que Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) partiront de la deuxième.

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Jorge Lorenzo produces the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle around the Circuito de Jerez to take his first pole of the season.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo sent the Spanish fans into rapture by setting a 1’37.910, the only time anyone has ever been under the 1’38 mark on two wheels at the Spanish circuit, beating Marc Marquez previous record from last year by over two-tenths of a second.

Despite track temperatures reaching over 50 degrees the Spaniard, showing renewed determination in Jerez, led from the outset and never looked like missing out on pole. Marc Marquez will start from second on the grid after riding through the pain once more with his broken finger to finish 0.390s behind Lorenzo.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.558s) outshone his teammate to start from the front row, while Pol Espargaro was the leading satellite rider on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 and will start from the head of the second row.

Current Championship leader Valentino Rossi (+0.722s) will start the race from fifth, with the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro (+0.728s) only six-thousandths of a second further back in 6th.

CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow heads the third row in front of the second Ducati Team GP 15 of Andrea Dovizioso and Pramac Racings Yonny Hernandez.

Bradley Smith completes the top ten, ahead of Scott Redding (11th) and Danilo Petrucci (12th).

Earlier it was the Pramac Racing duo of Petrucci and Hernandez who made it through from Q1, while Hector Barbera on the Avintia Racing Ducati will start the race from 13th on the grid as the leading Open class rider.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results and grid, the race is due to start at 14:00 local time on Sunday in Jerez.