A magnificent qualifying session saw Maverick Viñales take pole position ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and incredibly, Valentino Rossi.

Viñales has been struggling at MotorLand all weekend, finishing the first two practice sessions way down the order.

The Spaniard pulled it out of the bag to take pole position ahead of Jorge Lorenzo who had to first work his way through Q1. Lorenzo put in a constant stream of fast laps to take second, and could well be a serious contender for the win tomorrow as he starts to learn to work with the Ducati.

But Rossi truly stole the show. For a short time he sat in pole position but was pushed back to third, still remarkable considering just three weeks ago he was lying in hospital having just had his double leg break operated on.

Rossi's front row start not only shows what is possible with strength, determination and a passion for what you do but also proves to the doubters that he was more than right in his decision to come back so soon.

While the front three shone, Marc Marquez was having a nightmare. He started strong and was on pole position pace, but crashed out as he was about to improve on his time. Because he crashed so late on in the session he was unable to get back out, and will start from fifth for the race tomorrow. 

MotoGP Q2 results:

1. Maverick Viñales, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1:47.635
2. Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team +0.100
3. Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +0.180
4. Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda +0.195
5. Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team +0.328
6. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team +0.472
7. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team +0.502
8. Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +0.524
9. Alvaro Bautista, Pull&Bear Aspar Team +0.552
10. Andrea Iannone, Team Suzuki Ecstar +0.654
11. Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.767
12. Mika Kallio, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.836

Test sessions for the 2017/2018 season have been announced, with action getting underway in Valencia in November following the season finale.

The 2018 then firing up at the end of January at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

MotoGP test dates:

Jorge Martin set the pace in qualifying to take pole position from Enea Bastianini and Aron Canet...I think.

And the reason I say 'I think' is that we never truly know the Moto3 grid until Sunday morning. Another complete farce of a tow-fest will surely see penalities handed out left right and centre. Every rider (except Marcos Ramirez) came into pit lane and waited until there was only three minutes left of the session to go back out - that's just enough time for an out lap and one flying lap. Martin had put himself in a good position before coming back in, as he sat in provisional pole half a second quicker than anyone else. But he left it the longest to head back out on track with only two minutes to go - presumably to make sure all the riders hanging around for a tow (which is all of them) had gone. Martin sneaked across the line with seconds to spare, and started to shave seconds off his own time before unfortunately succumbing to the gravel. He didn't complete his fast lap, but still set pole position.

In fact, every rider was completing their flying lap after the flag had gone out, because they were spending too much time on their out lap hanging around and 'accidentally' running off track. Andrea Migno, Juanfran Guevara, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Joan Mir and Adam Norrodin were among the names that were trying it on, but it didn't work out as planned for the five of them. Initially Norrodin took a tumble, but because they were so bunched up from trying to get that perfect tow, they tumbled over each other on their only chance at a flying lap, ending their chances of improving their grid position. 

I say this every race weekend, but something needs to be done about towing in Moto3. While grid penaltes and fines seem like a good idea on paper, they're clearly not deterring either the rider or the team.

Top ten (provisional):

1. Jorge Martin, Del Conca Gresini Moto3 - 1:58.067
2. Enea Bastiaini, Estrella Galicia 0,0 +0.358
3. Aron Canet, Estrella Galicia 0,0 +0.449
4. Nicolo Bulega, Sky Racing Team VR46 +0.526
5. Dennis Foggia, Sky Junior Team VR46 Junior Academy +0.701
6. Joan Mir, Leopard Racing +0.717
7. John McPhee, British Talent Team +0.746
8. Philipp Oettl, Südmetall Schedl GP Racing +0.894
9. Tatsuki Suzuki, SIC58 Squadra Corse +0.909
10. Marcos Ramirez, Platinum Bay Real Estate +0.918

Championship leader Franco Morbidelli topped the time sheets for the first time this weekend, ahead of Mattia Pasini and Takaaki Nakagami.

Alex Marquez managed to find some pace to take sixth, his best position in free practice this weekend since returning from injury. Thomas Luthi ended the session in ninth, only 0.3s off the pace of Morbidelli. In fact, the top four were separated by less than 0.1 of a second, one of the closest sessions we've seen this year. The top ninetten were covered by just under a second, with the likes of Brad Binder, Lorenzo Baldassari and Hafizh Syahrin outside of that gap.

Miguel Oliveira had a really good session, finishing in fifth. He's slowly creeping up towards a win, and it could well come this weekend if he keeps up this pace. The tricky conditions caught him out in Misano, and he'll be back with the burning passion to fight for his first Moto2 victory.

Top ten:

Franco Morbidelli, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1:54.200

Mattia Pasini, Italtrans Racing Team +0.010

Takaaki Nakagami, IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia +0.016

Sandro Cortese, Dynavolt Intact GP +0.095

Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.176

Alex Marquez, EG 0,0 Marc VDS +0.198

Simone Corsi, Speed Up Racing +0.208

Jorge Navarro, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 +0.308

Thomas Luthi, CarXpert Interwetten +0.355

Francesco Bagnaia, Sky Racing Team VR46 +0.383