Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/714702
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2016 Sport 50 ANDREA Iannone has taken an incredible last dash pole position at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, as the Italian came out top in a four- way shootout at the front. Val- entino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was just beaten to the top spot and will start from the middle of the front row, ahead of the second Desmosedici of An- drea Dovizioso. Iannone, who is riding through the pain of an injury sustained during a motocross incident in the summer break, was the last man to cross the line and made it count – taking the honours after the flag had dropped and knocking fellow Italian Valentino Rossi off the top. The Ducati rider, who is set to move to Team Suzuki Ecstar next season, sealed his second pole po- sition of his career after dueling with his teammate for supremacy throughout the weekend. Rossi, who briefly led the way in the final seconds, leapt up the timesheets in Q2 to get involved in the fight for pole - and the 9-time world champion will surely be sat- isfied with a front row start and an incredible improvement for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team after struggling for pace during some sessions of the weekend so far. Andrea Dovizioso, who topped the timesheets ahead of the ses- sion, was unable to beat his team- mate to the top but has spent much of the weekend focusing on long run pace – something that could play into his hands as the race gets underway on Sunday. With the battle close at the top and the strong points of the Duca- ti lending the Italian a natural ad- vantage on race day, the front row start could be important. Early pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) looked set for pole until the final laps of the session, with the reign- ing world champion pulling some incredible form out of the bag to get involved in the shootout at the front. Points leader Marc Mar- quez, after dislocating his shoul- der in a crash in FP3, put in a valiant qualifying run to start the race from the middle of the front row, ahead of compatriot Maver- ick Vñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who completed the all-Spanish second row. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed row 3, with Hector Barbera (Avin- tia Racing) beating first time Q2 participant Eugene Laverty (PULL&BEAR Aspar Team) to P10. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) suffered the most in the session, ending up P12 but having made big progress since a Friday morning crash set his weekend off on the wrong foot. MOTOGP FORMULA 1 Iannone takes pole for Ducati in Austria Ducati Team rider steals P1 in the final seconds of four-way battle 2016 Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix - Qualifying Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. A. Iannone Ducati 01:23.142 8 2. V. Rossi Yamaha 01:23.289 9 3. A. Dovizioso Ducati 01:23.298 9 4. J. Lorenzo Yamaha 01:23.361 9 5. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 01:23.475 9 6. M. Vinales Suzuki 01:23.584 8 7. C. Crutchlow LCR 01:23.597 9 8. S. Redding Pramac 01:23.777 8 9. A. Espargaro Suzuki 01:23.813 8 10. H. Barbera Avintia 01:23.822 8 11. E. Laverty Aspar 01:24.218 9 12. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 01:24.263 9 Red Bull now closest to Mercedes - Hamilton REIGNING World Champion Lewis Hamilton says that he now regards Red Bull as Mer- cedes' nearest rival in Formula 1, rather than Ferrari, and is wary of its potential over the second half of the season. Red Bull closed on Ferrari at recent races and jumped 14 points clear in the battle for sec- ond position in the standings with a double podium finish at the German Grand Prix. Red Bull is now hoping to fur- ther cut the gap to pace-setter Mercedes, with nine rounds of the season remaining, and up- grades to follow, despite the fo- cus on 2017. Hamilton, who has won six of the last seven Grands Prix, feels it is important to take Red Bull seriously. "They've got a very, very strong team," said Hamilton. "Red Bull have definitely picked up with their engine per- formance, but also they've got great downforce. "I don't know why they closed up a little bit more than others [at Hockenheim]. "Ferrari looked strong at one point during the weekend and then they seemed to fade off in the race. "So Red Bull is definitely our closest competitor. "Daniel [Ricciardo] is perform- ing really well, and so is Max [Verstappen], but it's not just because of them, it's because they've got a great team [around them]." Mercedes holds a 159-point lead over Red Bull, while Lewis Hamilton is 19 points clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg, with Ricciardo 65 points further back.