Dani Pedrosa snares pole in Italy
Dani Pedrosa to start from pole in Italy
Dani Pedrosa will start from pole position for the Italian MotoGP from Mugello after setting a record qualifying time.
The Honda rider’s time of 1:47.284 led a Spanish trio with championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) second and Hector Barbera (Ducati) rounding out the front row.
Lorenzo had been set the fastest time in all three practice sessions and for the majority of qualifying. At the very end of qualifying Lorenzo looked set to grab pole, but abandoned his run with what he described as a loss of power from the engine. The Yamaha rider slammed his hand on the front of his bike as he pulled into the pit lane.
Pole for Pedrosa comes on the back of victory at the German Grand Prix last weekend.
Australia’s Casey Stoner will start from fifth position after being sitting outside the top half-dozen on the time sheets until the final minute of qualifying.
As riders pushed for quicker times both Cal Crutchlow and Ben Spies crashed. Both riders were OK and completed the session on spare machines.
Aleix Espargaro beat Aspar Aprilia team-mate Randy de Puniet by just 0.063s in the battle for CRT honours.
QUALIFYING: Italian MotoGP – Mugello
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 1:47.284* |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha Factory Racing | +0.139 |
| 3 | Hector Barbera | Pramac Racing Team | +0.261 |
| 4 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Team | +0.387 |
| 5 | Casey Stoner | Repsol Honda Team | +0.405 |
| 6 | Cal Crutchlow | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +0.465 |
| 7 | Andrea Dovizioso | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +0.467 |
| 8 | Stefan Bradl | LCR Honda MotoGP | +0.573 |
| 9 | Ben Spies | Yamaha Factory Racing | +0.865 |
| 10 | Valentino Rossi | Ducati Team | +1.218 |
| 11 | Alvaro Bautista | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +1.610 |
| 12 | Aleix Espargaro | Power Electronics Aspar | +2.103 |
| 13 | Randy de Puniet | Power Electronics Aspar | +2.166 |
| 14 | Michele Pirro | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +2.979 |
| 15 | Yonny Hernandez | Avintia Blusens | +3.326 |
| 16 | James Ellison | Paul Bird Motorsport | +3.528 |
| 17 | Mattia Pasini | Speed Master | +3.669 |
| 18 | Ivan Silva | Avintia Blusens | +3.958 |
| 19 | Colin Edwards | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | +4.064 |
| 20 | Danilo Petrucci | Came IodaRacing Project | +4.189 |
* Qualifying record time
