Lorenzo beats Dovizioso for third-straight pole
ByAutoSport
Updated 22/09/2018 at 14:01 GMT
Jorge Lorenzo took his fourth pole of the 2018 MotoGP season at Aragon, edging out Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso by 0.014 seconds, while Valentino Rossi could only qualify 18th.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati)
Image credit: Getty Images
Lorenzo and Dovizioso both set their fastest times on their last runs, when almost the entire Q2 field bunched together in one long train as multiple riders cruised for tows.
Honda's Marc Marquez had set the pace up to that point, concluding the opening runs with a best time of 1m46.960s to sit just over a tenth clear of Lorenzo.
But Marquez was one of those to lose out in the final shuffle as he did not improve after a small mistake at Turn 12, slipping to third as first Dovizioso and then Lorenzo profited from the slipstream to go quicker.
In the end, Lorenzo's 1m46.881s narrowly gave him a third pole in a row over Dovizioso, with Marquez 0.065s down in third.
Cal Crutchlow managed to hang on to fourth despite crashing his LCR Honda at Turn 12 in the closing stages, and will lead Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and the second works Honda of Dani Pedrosa on the second row on Sunday.
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) was seventh ahead of the Nieto Ducati of Alvaro Bautista, Suzuki rider Alex Rins and Jack Miller (Pramac), who was not part of the main group of riders.
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Marquez und Lorenzo am Sachsenring
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The top two from Q1, Yamaha's Maverick Vinales and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda), completed the Q2 order, with Vinales appearing to abandon his final lap.
While Vinales managed to escape Q1 by topping the session, his Yamaha team-mate Rossi was only eighth-fastest, marking his worst qualifying performance since the 2006 Dutch TT.
The Italian was only fifth-fastest after his opening run, half a second slower than Vinales, and then in the closing minutes of the session he coasted around looking for clear space on-track and simply ran out of time to post a hot lap.
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Repsol Honda's Spanish rider Marc Marquez (L) and Ducati Team's Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo ride during the MotoGP first free practice of the Aragon Grand Prix at the Motorland racetrack in Alcaniz, on September 21, 2018
Image credit: Getty Images
It means he starts 18th, his lowest grid slot since he was sent to the back of the grid for the 2015 title decider at Valencia.
Nakagami managed to go second-quickest behind Vinales, ousting Honda rookie Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS) from a spot in Q2.
Morbidelli will therefore head up the fifth row ahead of Johann Zarco's Tech3 Yamaha and the lead Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.
Bradley Smith, KTM's sole runner again after Pol Espargaro's practice crash on Saturday morning, will start 16th ahead of Karel Abraham's Nieto Ducati and Rossi's Yamaha.
Jordi Torres brought up the rear in Q1 and will make his MotoGP race debut from 23rd on the grid on his Avintia Ducati.
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