Dani Pedrosa backed up his sensational free practice form by taking pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. The Spaniard narrowly pipped his Repsol Honda team-mate Marc Marquez to his first pole since Malaysia 2015 while Cal Crutchlow completed a front row lock-out for HRC in third.
Despite many expecting this circuit to favour the Yamahas, Pedrosa had topped all three practice session prior to qualifying. His team-mate would strike the first blow though in Q2, clocking a 1:38.300 to lead Pedrosa by a fraction, Marc opting for three shorter runs as opposed to Dani’s two run strategy.
The final runs would ultimately decide matters with Pedrosa climbing up to provisional pole, setting a 1:38.249, while Marquez came up half a tenth short despite following close behind the no.26 on track. Crutchlow leapt up to third late on but he was soon forced to leap off his motorcycle when a wasp flew inside his leathers, causing him a great deal of discomfort.
Maverick Vinales was the best of the Yamahas in fourth while Andrea Iannone salvaged a superb fifth for Suzuki despite having to navigate his way through Q1. Johann Zarco completed the second row with championship leader Valentino Rossi down in seventh after failing to unlock the single lap pace from his YZR-M1.
Jorge Lorenzo took eighth for Ducati ahead of Jonas Folger, Jack Miller and Scott Redding with Aleix Espargaro completing the fourth row after escaping Q1, although he would eventually crash in the pole position shootout.
2017 Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana: Qualifying Result
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