Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/329964
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JUNE 2014 54 Sport MOTOGP Pedrosa secures pole start as Marquez run ends with crash YESTERDAY afternoon's Q2 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Cat- alunya ended with Dani Pedrosa se- curing pole position, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez on row one for Sunday's race – with Mar- quez suffering a late crash in the ses- sion. At his home event Pedrosa took his first pole since the 2013 Catalan Grand Prix with a 1'40.985s lap in the Barcelona-Catalunya heat and in doing so the Repsol Honda rider ended Marquez' successive pole run. Following his fascinating battle with Marquez at Mugello Lorenzo qualified in second place and will be looking forward to fighting the Honda riders again at a track where the Mallorcan has a strong record and has won the last two MotoGP™ races. Marquez walked away from his first crash of the year after losing the front end at turn 1 towards the end of the session. The young MotoGP World Champion therefore starts third on the grid, his first non-pole result since Motegi last year. German rider Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), who himself suf- fered two big crashes at Mugello, qualified fourth after looking sharp in practice earlier in the day. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) admits qualifying is not currently his strongest point but he equaled his second best Q2 result of 2014 so far in fifth, having qualified 10th last time out in Mugello. Another home rider Aleix Espar- garo (NGM Forward Racing) was delighted with his qualifying effort as he completed row two, just 0.323s behind Pedrosa. Row three will feature Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing), with Hernandez riding well for ninth. The fourth row will comprise Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini). Iannone and Bautis- ta made it through from Q1 as spots of rain threatened to disrupt Q2. The conditions stayed dry but Bautista suffered a big Q2 highside at turn 7 and was stretchered away, though he appeared to be ok. Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 1 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 341.8 1'40.985 2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 339.3 1'41.100 0.115 / 0.115 3 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 343.7 1'41.135 0.150 / 0.035 4 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 343.7 1'41.220 0.235 / 0.085 5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 342.0 1'41.290 0.305 / 0.070 6 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 334.6 1'41.308 0.323 / 0.018 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 343.0 1'41.337 0.352 / 0.029 8 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 340.9 1'41.491 0.506 / 0.154 9 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 344.7 1'41.671 0.686 / 0.180 10 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 336.4 1'41.677 0.692 / 0.006 11 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 341.8 1'41.751 0.766 / 0.074 12 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 342.2 1'42.024 1.039 / 0.273 GP Monster Energy de Catalunya Dani Pedrosa