Submitted by Zara Daniela on
Despite the twenty-eight degrees, the MotoGP qualifying session took its time to heat up and give us a show. The final two minutes were when the timing sheets lighted up like a Christmas tree and gave us a rather predictable poleman in championship leader Maverick Viñales.
Home favourite Valentino Rossi did not seem very disappointed while pulling a wheelie after qualifying second, two tenths behind his young teammate and picking up the fight where we left off in Le Mans. The front row was completed by Andrea Dovizioso, bringing Ducati a front row start at their beloved circuit.
The second row brings more joy to the Italian factory, with Michelle Pirro in fourth position, in front of the two factory Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, the world champion getting a little stuck behind Johann Zarco and only saving a sixth grid position.
Jorge Lorenzo had tried a two-stop strategy which did not prove particularly good or bad, the Spaniard qualifying seventh and sharing the third row of the grid with an excellent Alvaro Bautista. Danilo Petrucci started the session strong by topping the timesheets and challenging everyone who briefly dared to take over the lead. He looked to be on for a front row start before his best time was cancelled for exceeding track limits – still, ninth place after crashing both his bikes in the morning and getting through Q1 isn’t too bad.
After a tow à la Marc Marquez to assist him in his Q2 bid, Tito Rabat helped himself with a lap behind Dani Pedrosa to get an honourable tenth grid position. With the confidence of a man who had just topped FP4, Zarco only did one single run to get out of Q1 successfully and save a tyre for Q2. The plan didn’t work out great in the end, the Frenchmen stuck in the middle of the fourth row. Aleix Espargaro crashed early into the session and qualified twelfth.
Cal Crutchlow missed Q2 by less than a tenth of a second and will start the race from thirteenth grid position, on the fifth row.
Results:
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
1 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'46.575 | ||
2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'46.814 | 0.239 | 0.239 |
3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1'46.835 | 0.260 | 0.021 |
4 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | 1'46.878 | 0.303 | 0.043 |
5 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'46.999 | 0.424 | 0.121 |
6 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1'47.050 | 0.475 | 0.051 |
7 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Ducati | 1'47.152 | 0.577 | 0.102 |
8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'47.167 | 0.592 | 0.015 |
9 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'47.266 | 0.691 | 0.099 |
10 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'47.282 | 0.707 | 0.016 |
11 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | Yamaha | 1'47.319 | 0.744 | 0.037 |
12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | 1'47.475 | 0.900 | 0.156 |
Q1 Results: | ||||||
Q2 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | Yamaha | 1'47.058 | ||
Q2 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'47.141 | 0.083 | 0.083 |
13 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 1'47.220 | 0.162 | 0.079 |
14 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'47.272 | 0.214 | 0.052 |
15 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | Yamaha | 1'47.305 | 0.247 | 0.033 |
16 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Suzuki | 1'47.625 | 0.567 | 0.320 |
17 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 1'47.809 | 0.751 | 0.184 |
18 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 1'47.940 | 0.882 | 0.131 |
19 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Honda | 1'47.961 | 0.903 | 0.021 |
20 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'47.975 | 0.917 | 0.014 |
21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'48.361 | 1.303 | 0.386 |
22 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 1'48.416 | 1.358 | 0.055 |
23 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'48.594 | 1.536 | 0.178 |
24 | 50 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | 1'48.892 | 1.834 | 0.298 |
Comments
Trap speeds?
Aprilia's new motor - looks good!
Anyone have a link to trap speeds?
The new/old/new tire change mixed this weekend up a bit eh? Rossi able to be on the front row while wounded is not to be under appreciated. Jorge is looking more settled in w normal conditions, even on a tire w a bit less edge grip. Crutchlow is teething on the new tire in his (hammer at the new limit) fashion, he will be right back up front soon. How many laps of Mugello do you think Pirro has under his belt of late compared to the average rider out there? Yep. Suzuki and Iannone - more please, that just isn't sufficient.
Question - what didn't happen for Zarco in Q? He looked SO good in FP!
Trap speeds
Much of a muchness depending on who's Ducati you were on. Espargaro was right on par with the factory Ducati's, Yamaha's and Honda's. Some sattelite Ducati's were quicker. Clearly Rossi was not seriously wounded, nor Vinales, the facts (STOP WATCH) do not lie. One and two on the grid, great race pace. Track temperature tomorrow will be the issue. If it is pretty hot the Ducati's may have a chance, well, it will be same as today, a Yamaha cakewalk with Zarco and Folger in the mix. Go check out MotoGP.com 'results'. They publish the top speeds as the speed trap telemetry suggests. I say 'suggests'. There exist many arguments as to exactly where the top speed is recorded and hence the true top speed.
The Big three MotoGp manufacturers on top
two factory Yamahas, 2 Ducatis, 2 HRC Repsol Hondas
The other three factories further back.
Three Italian riders & 3 Spanish riders in top six.
the usual suspects again. Plus Michele Pirro then Lorenzo Seventh. could be an entertaining race.
speedy
http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2017/ITA/MotoGP/Q2/MaximumSpee...
352=218
how long before we see someone jump the crest like marc at lagunas t1?
kidding...kinda