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MotoGP, Lorenzo's comeback: pole and record, Rossi second

QP - Front row for Vinales with Marquez in fourth. Pirro proceeds from Q1 and places on the second row, ahead of Dovizioso.

Lorenzo's comeback: pole and record, Rossi second

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Jorge Lorenzo came back with a roar today in qualifying at Misano. After his recent, rather disappointing performances, Jorge took no prisoners today. Fast right from the start of qualifying, he set a low 1'32" that already appeared to be enough to secure pole position.

However, once he changed the tyre, he was able to do even better, stopping the clock with a record time of 1.31"898, that translates as almost 2 tenths better than the 1.32:146 the Yamaha rider set on the way to obtaining last year's pole: "I wanted to be immediately aggressive and pushed hard. After setting a good time, I felt I could do more. I took a risk, but this is undoubtedly one of the best laps I've ever made in my career"  he said in parc fermé.

Second for a smiling Valentino Rossi, a little worried at the start of the session, when he was unable to keep pace with his team-mate with the first tyre. This meant that while Jorge was flying Valentino was lapping around 9 tenths from the front. The final tyre chance set things straight for him and awarded him second place on the grid: "In effect, I was a little worried after the first tyre. I mean that, over the weekend we've had tyres that were better and others that were worse. With today's first tyre I was worried but with the second I saw that I could do well and set a good time".

Maverick Vinales rounds out the front row (+0.513): "We've worked in preparation for the race, rather than focusing on the fast time, lapping on used tyres in the previous sessions. For the qualifying we were sorted and so I just pushed on. I'm pleased with the result."  Maverick snatches a front row place from Marc Marquez (+0.575), ahead of a great Michele Pirro (+0.599). He proceeded from Q1, despite his position in FP3. As a result of Andrea Iannone's injury, Pirro's status was changed from "wild card" to "substitute rider" so his results were discounted and he started afresh as of FP4.

Andrea Dovizioso closes the second row (+0.809). One position behind him is Cal Crutchlow, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Aleix Espargarò. 11th on the grid for Hector Barbera, while Alvaro Bautista rounds out Q2 in 12th place.

 

Translated by Heather Watson
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