ROME: Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo took Yamaha’s first pole position of the MotoGP season at the San Marino Grand Prix yesterday while world champion Marc Marquez had to settle for the second row.
Italian Andrea Iannone qualified second on a Ducati, just 0.051 seconds off the pace, with Lorenzo’s teammate and nine times champion Valentino Rossi completing the front row at Misano.
Spaniard Marquez, winner of 11 of the 12 races so far, will start from fourth place on the grid — his worst qualifying of the season — with Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa fifth on a dry track.
Marquez has an 89 point lead over compatriot Pedrosa, his closest rival. Double world champion Lorenzo, whose last pole was at Japan’s Motegi circuit last October, has won for the past three years at Misano. Reuters