Dani Pedrosa took an incredible pole position in qualifying for the Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana, taking to the top in a last dash and teammate Marc Marquez unable to depose him on his last lap.
Pedrosa was fastest on Friday and on Saturday in FP3, on the charge at his first home race of the year. Behind Marquez is Cal Crutchlow completing the front row in a Honda 1-2-3.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales took fourth to head up the second row ahead of Q1 graduate and comeback king Andrea Iannone, with rookie Johann Zarco in sixth.
Fourteen world titles start the Spanish GP from the third row, with Championship leader Valentino Rossi in seventh just ahead of Ducati Team’s Jorge Lorenzo only 0.002 back, as the ‘Spartan’ had a good day’s work on Saturday, back up the timesheets in his home race. Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) is ninth in another solid result for the German rookie.
Jack Miller backed up his Friday pace with direct entry to Q2 and a top ten start despite a crash, with Scott Redding in eleventh and Aleix Espargaro in P12 after graduating from Q1. The rider from Granollers was another crasher in the Q2 session.
Danilo Petrucci starts P13 from Q1, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and a stunning display from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro to complete the top fifteen, just ahead of teammate Bradley Smith.
Qualifying 2 Result:
| Pos. | # | Rider | Nat | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 290.7 | 1’38.249 | |
| 2 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 290.7 | 1’38.298 | 0.049 |
| 3 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 290.8 | 1’38.453 | 0.204 |
| 4 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 291.7 | 1’38.677 | 0.428 |
| 5 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 290.7 | 1’38.744 | 0.495 |
| 6 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 290.9 | 1’38.861 | 0.612 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 289.6 | 1’38.908 | 0.659 |
| 8 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 293.3 | 1’38.910 | 0.661 |
| 9 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 290.7 | 1’39.108 | 0.859 |
| 10 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 289.9 | 1’39.125 | 0.876 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | OCTO Pramac Racing | Ducati | 292.2 | 1’39.152 | 0.903 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 288.4 | 1’39.400 | 1.151 |