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56 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 MAY 2015 MOTOGP Iannone claims career first MotoGP pole in Mugello Ducati's Andrea Iannone secured the maiden pole position of his MotoGP career for his and the team's home race at Mugello as reigning World Champion Marc Márquez managed only 13th place IANNONE trailed Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo after the opening runs and his hot lap appeared to have drifted away as he complet- ed the third of four sectors. But Iannone latched onto the back of Lorenzo's Yamaha and took advantage of the slipstream along Mugello's long straight to take top spot with a 1:46.489 and demote the Spaniard to second position. Andrea Dovizioso claimed third place to ensure two Ducati riders will start from the front row of the grid. Cal Crutchlow was fourth while Aleix Espargaró escaped from Q1 and promptly set the fifth quickest time for Suzuki. Ducati wildcard rider Michele Pirro will start from sixth place, ahead of Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Championship leader Valen- tino Rossi. Maverick Viñales was ninth for Suzuki while Pol Espargaró, Bra- dley Smith and Yonny Hernández completed the Q2 runners as Már- quez struggled. Márquez failed to automatically qualify into Q2 by 0.007s in the fi- nal practice session, meaning that he had to participate in Q1 for the first time in two years. Márquez initially posted the sec- ond quickest lap in the session but was demoted to third by Hernán- dez and missed out on a slot in Q2. That leaves Márquez in 13th place on the grid, ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Héctor Barberá. Stefan Bradl was 16th, pursued by Scott Redding, Loris Baz and 2006 champion Nicky Hayden. Karel Abraham recovered from a crash in the morning session to go 20th, ahead of Álvaro Bautista and Mike di Meglio. The grid will be completed by Jack Miller, Eugene Laverty, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri. Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 1 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ducati Team Ducati 349.5 1'46.489 2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 338.8 1'46.584 0.095 / 0.095 3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 346.3 1'46.610 0.121 / 0.026 4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR CWM LCR Honda Honda 345.8 1'46.657 0.168 / 0.047 5 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 332.6 1'46.854 0.365 / 0.197 6 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 349.1 1'46.870 0.381 / 0.016 7 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 343.6 1'46.875 0.386 / 0.005 8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 343.7 1'46.923 0.434 / 0.048 9 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 335.9 1'46.934 0.445 / 0.011 10 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 341.4 1'47.050 0.561 / 0.116 11 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 344.2 1'47.090 0.601 / 0.040 12 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 346.8 1'47.423 0.934 / 0.333 2015 Italian MotoGP Grand Prix Andrea Iannone Rossi: "My lap time was not so bad, but it wasn't enough" MOVISTAR Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was not too upset with his Qualifying performance, despite having to start from eighth on the grid. The nine-time world Champi- on would not have been too dis- heartened though, as his last two race victories have come from when he has qualified in eighth. Valentino Rossi: "Just like pre- vious races this season, here in Mugello the level, the speed and the lap times are a lot faster than last year. Marquez rode the lap time of the pole position last time and he's just in thirteenth place, so it's a big step forward. I improved a lot and my lap time was not so bad, but it wasn't enough. It looks like the extra soft tyre worked very well, so our competitors who could use this option were very strong. All the top riders were able to im- prove their pace a lot, so apart from my starting position on the third row, which is not fantastic, I'm quite happy about today. We worked well on the bike and I im- proved my feeling and my pace. It will be a hard race, but we will see tomorrow."