Espargaro lands surprise Suzuki pole

Aleix Espargaro headed a shock Suzuki one-two in qualifying for the MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix.

The Suzukis emerged on top in what proved to be an action packed session which saw the Circuit de Catalunya lap record broken on several occasions.

It was Espargaro, who prevailed with an impressive 1:40.546s effort set in the final three minutes to secure Suzuki’s first pole position since Australian Chris Vermeulen’s triumph at Assen in 2007.

Maverick Vinales backed up the Japanese manufacturer’s pace by claiming second spot with his last gasp personal best just 0.083s adrift of his team-mate.

The factory Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo, who was the first rider to break the circuit lap record, will join the Suzukis on the front row in third.

Reigning world champion Marc Marquez, aboard the works Honda, was fourth fastest 0.2s shy of the pace set by Espargaro.

Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso will start Sunday’s race from fifth position alongside the sister Honda of Dani Pedrosa.

It was a difficult session for championship leader Valentino Rossi, who could only set a time good enough for seventh spot, with the nine-time world champion more than half a second off the pace.

British duo Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) will complete the third row of the grid, while Pramac Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez rounded out the top 10.

Australia’s Jack Miller will start from 21st position on the grid for LCR Honda.

Result: MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya Qualifying

Position	Rider	Bike	Lap Time	Gap
1	Aleix Espargaró	Suzuki	1:40.546s
2	Maverick Viñales	Suzuki	1:40.629s	+0.083s
3	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	1:40.646s	+0.100s
4	Marc Márquez	Honda	1:40.754s	+0.208s
5	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1:40.907s	+0.361s
6	Daniel Pedrosa	Honda	1:40.928s	+0.382s
7	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1:41.058s	+0.512s
8	Bradley Smith	Tech 3 Yamaha	1:41.068s	+0.522s
9	Cal Crutchlow	LCR Honda	1:41.195s	+0.649s
10	Yonny Hernández	Pramac Ducati	1:41.333s	+0.787s
11	Pol Espargaró	Tech 3 Yamaha	1:41.385s	+0.839s
12	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	1:41.524s	+0.978s
13	Héctor Barberá	Pramac Ducati	1:42.003s	+1.457s
14	Scott Redding	Marc VDS Honda	1:42.029s	+1.483s
15	Stefan Bradl	Yamaha Forward	1:42.053s	+1.507s
16	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1:42.155s	+1.609s
17	Mike Di Meglio	Avintia Ducati	1:42.273s	+1.727s
18	Nicky Hayden	Aspar Honda	1:42.485s	+1.939s
19	Loris Baz	Yamaha Forward	1:42.592s	+2.046s
20	Álvaro Bautista	Gresini Aprilia	1:42.600s	+2.054s
21	Jack Miller	LCR Honda	1:42.928s	+2.382s
22	Eugene Laverty	Aspar Honda	1:42.971s	+2.425s
23	Alex de Angelis	ART/Aprilia	1:43.601s	+3.055s
24	Marco Melandri	Gresini Aprilia	1:44.345s	+3.799s
25	Karel Abraham	Honda	1:43.008s	+2.462s