MotoGP: Pedrosa takes Catalan pole position from Lorenzo

Dani Pedrosa has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona’s Montmelò circuit, setting a blistering pace in extremely hot conditions to take the first starting position for tomorrow’s 25-lap race from Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa, able to make the most of his light weight in low grip conditions, led the Ducati rider by a third a second, with a surprise performance for Mugello podium finisher Danilo Petrucci launching him to third place on the second of the grid’s three GP17 Ducati machines.

Marc Marquez was able to take some solace from fourth place on a difficult day that saw him crash four times in the tricky conditions, ahead of strong rides from Aleix Espargaró and Hector Barbera to fifth and sixth.

Andrea Dovizioso was seventh, ahead of the first Yamaha of Jonas Folger, ahead of the factory bikes as they struggle as they did in Jerez with the high temperatures and low grip level. Maverick Viñales rounds out the third row on the first satellite bike in ninth while Valentino Rossi failed to make qualifying two and will start from 13^th.

Scott Redding was again the best of the Brits in 11^th, while a struggling Cal Crutchlow will start from 17^th. Both Bradley Smith and Sam Lowes sat out qualifying, the former with a finger injury sustained in free practice four that leaves him in doubt for tomorrow’s race and the latter with yet another technical problem on the factory Aprilia.