Aleix Espargaro shoots to shock Dutch pole

Aleix Espargaro dominated MotoGP qualifying as he took a surprise pole position at Assen.

The Forward Yamaha rider was almost 1.5s quicker than his nearest rival reigning world champion Marc Marquez as a rain shower disrupted qualifying at the famous Dutch circuit.

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was third fastest as he pipped Pramac Ducati’s Andrea Iannone to the final place on the front row.

Rain began to fall at the start of the second part of qualifying which forced riders to push hard early on to set a benchmark time before conditions deteriorated.

In the end, a smart strategy from Espargaro to work himself into some clear track proved crucial as he blitzed the Assen track to secure pole with a 1.38.789s effort.

The time was unable to be beaten as the rain continued to disrupt the session leaving Espargaro to celebrate his maiden pole position of his MotoGP career.

Marquez provided the next best time but he could only muster a lap 1.405s adrift of his fellow countryman while Pedrosa was five tenths slower in third.

Cal Crutchlow showed his class in wet conditions as he netted fifth on the grid for Ducati ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith and Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

The factory Yamaha squad struggled in the tricky conditions with Jorge Lorenzo ninth behind Stefan Bradl while Valentino Rossi could only secure 12th on the grid.

Australia’s Broc Parkes will start from 19th on the grid for Paul Bird Motorsport.

MotoGP TT Assen Qualifying Results

Position	Rider	Team/Bike	Time	Gap
1	Aleix Espargaro	Forward Yamaha	1m38.789s
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	1m40.194s	+1.405s
3	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1m40.732s	+1.943s
4	Andrea Iannone	Pramac Ducati	1m40.786s	+1.997s
5	Cal Crutchlow	Ducati	1m40.796s	+2.007s
6	Bradley Smith	Tech 3 Yamaha	1m40.818s	+2.029s
7	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1m41.140s	+2.351s
8	Stefan Bradl	LCR Honda	1m41.982s	+3.193s
9	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	1m42.259s	+3.470s
10	Alvaro Bautista	Gresini Honda	1m42.884s	+4.095s
11	Pol Espargaro	Tech 3 Yamaha	1m43.085s	+4.296s
12	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1m43.625s	+4.836s
13	Karel Abraham	Cardion Honda	1m34.907s	Q1
14	Hiroshi Aoyama	Aspar Honda	1m34.930s	Q1
15	Yonny Hernandez	Pramac Ducati	1m35.056s	Q1
16	Scott Redding	Gresini Honda	1m35.059s	Q1
17	Danilo Petrucci	Ioda Aprilia	1m35.346s	Q1
18	Colin Edwards	Forward Yamaha	1m35.484s	Q1
19	Broc Parkes	PBM Aprilia	1m35.513s	Q1
20	Hector Barbera	Avintia FTR-Kawasaki	1m35.631s	Q1
21	Michael Laverty	PBM Aprilia	1m35.731s	Q1
22	Nicky Hayden	Aspar Honda	1m35.792s	Q1
23	Mike di Meglio	Avintia FTR-Kawasaki	1m35.980s	Q1