Lorenzo grabs amazing pole in the new qualifying format of 15min shootout.
The new Qualifying 15mins Shootout meant just 4 quick runs for the riders to set the fastest lap and the reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo came up with his best lap during final minutes to beat Cal Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa for the pole.
Q1 started with outside top10 riders setting their times for grid in the 15mins session in which Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone topped the class to get promoted into Q2 with the big boys while Ben Spies who had crash in the Practice 4 just missed the chance narrowly.
Q2 started with Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha punching the best lap of the week right on his first run to set the benchmark for the pole. Cal Crutchlow on satellite Yamaha was immediate to set the fastest time after Lorenzo with Pedrosa and Rossi few tenths off. The surprise lap came from Ducati´s Andrea Dovizioso to get slotted into P3.
As the final moments started Lorenzo overthrew Crutchlow with an amazing lap while Pedrosa just managed to better Dovizioso for third. Bradl and Marquez completed Row 2 while Valentino Rossi could only set in 7th fastest with his return run on the Yamaha as he got stuck in traffic in his new set of tyres. Situations like these are nothing new for Rossi and he always fights back from behind which makes the race interesting.
Alvaro Bautista and Bradley Smith will join Rossi on the third row. Iannone, Hayden and Espargaro complete row 4.
Pos | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Time |
1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 1'54.714 |
2 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1'54.916 |
3 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1'55.151 |
4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1'55.160 |
5 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 1'55.477 |
6 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1'55.645 |
7 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 1'55.711 |
8 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 1'55.870 |
9 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1'56.315 |
10 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1'56.523 |
11 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1'56.667 |
12 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 1'57.064 |
13 | Ben SPIES | USA | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1'57.440 |
14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 1'57.551 |
15 | Lukas PESEK | CZE | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda–Suter | 1'57.926 |
16 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 1'58.058 |
17 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 1'58.263 |
18 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | ART | 1'58.271 |
19 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 1'58.361 |
20 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda–Suter | 1'58.486 |
21 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | 1'58.755 |
22 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | 1'58.806 |
23 | Bryan STARING | AUS | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | FTR Honda | 1'58.912 |
24 | Michael LAVERTY | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 1'59.572 |