Lorenzo takes pole with Ducati power

Jorge Lorenzo on pole
Jorge Lorenzo on pole

Using Ducati's superior HP advantage, Jorge Lorenzo shattered his own previous Misano lap record to take pole position for MotoGP's San Marino Grand Prix.

Lorenzo improved on his 2016 record on his first flying lap, beating Marquez's previous top time – already the best of the weekend – by two-and-a-half tenths.

The duo stayed first and second until the mid-session lull and both returned to the track relatively early, beginning a fast lap with six minutes still on the clock.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]However Lorenzo did not improve and then pitted.

Marquez, who was running a two-stop strategy in qualifying, then suffered a dramatic crash at Turn 15 on his second run which he almost saved on his elbow.

Marquez then sprinted back to the garage and mounted his second bike with four minutes left of the session to run.

Marquez was forced to bail out of his final lap after a moment at Turn 10 which saw him eventually drop to fifth place by the checkered flag.

Lorenzo on the other hand managed to lower his time by a further tenth as the checkered flag fell, topping the session with a best time of 1m31.629s, 0.287s ahead of Jack Miller, also on a Ducati.

More to follow……

Qualifying Results

POS RIDER TEAM BIKE TIME GAP
1 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati Ducati 1m31.629s 0.000s
2 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m31.916s 0.287s
3 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 1m31.950s 0.321s
4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m32.003s 0.374s
5 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m32.016s 0.387s
6 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 1m32.025s 0.396s
7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m32.028s 0.399s
8 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m32.136s 0.507s
9 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m32.250s 0.621s
10 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 1m32.338s 0.709s
11 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m32.369s 0.740s
12 Franco Morbidelli MVDS Honda Honda 1m32.454s 0.825s
13 Andrea Iannone Suzuki Suzuki 1m32.566s 0.937s
14 Michele Pirro Ducati Ducati 1m32.624s 0.995s
15 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m32.792s 1.163s
16 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 1m33.084s 1.455s
17 Bradley Smith KTM KTM 1m33.085s 1.456s
18 Stefan Bradl Honda Honda 1m33.361s 1.732s
19 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 1m33.437s 1.808s
20 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 1m33.502s 1.873s
21 Scott Redding Aprilia Aprilia 1m33.572s 1.943s
22 Xavier Simeon Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m33.705s 2.076s
23 Thomas Luthi MVDS Honda Honda 1m33.755s 2.126s
24 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m33.812s 2.183s
25 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m34.080s 2.451s
26 Christophe Ponsson Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m37.180s 5.551s