- 2018-06-17
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SPORTS
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP Catalunya: Jorge Lorenzo takes maiden Ducati pole position in Barcelona
The Round 7 on MotoGP 2018, Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Grand Prix ran Qualifying in Barcelona on June 16, 2018.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) claimed his first MotoGP pole position for Ducati with 1m 38.680s.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), who will be his teammate next year, took second position behind Lorenzo by 0.066s. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was 3rd position with 1m 38.923s.
Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) was the top Yamaha in fourth, Andrea Iannone (Suzuki Ecstar) was fifth behind Vinales by just 0.003s. Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) made up the second row.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who is leaving Honda by the end the 2018 season, was 11th and will start the fourth row tomorrow.
Jorge Lorenzo said;
“Obviously I’m really satisfied and really happy with the pole position. After a victory it’s the most important thing you can get.
Especially I’m happy about the feeling on the bike. At Mugello I felt great. Here at a different track I feel probably even better. Better than the test one month ago, always with a good pace, and really comfortable with all the tyres.
In the first tyre in qualifying, I felt something was wrong. It had no grip on the left. It looks like it could be not warming up the tyre well but it didn’t give me good confidence and I was really careful to avoid the crash because it could happen.
I kept the calm to push with the second tyre and with the second tyre I did a very good lap time and have this first pole position with Ducati. Marc also was really quick but I’m very satisfied."
Jorge Lorenzo continued;
"There is not a real soft tyre, let’s say. The soft gives you more grip in certain areas of the track but the medium you can also be quick. You can be quick with the hard, it’s very similar to the medium.
But for me it’s OK. Maybe because the bike is working really well now. The only thing that I would improve is the front. The front still has not so much edge grip for me and this should be the next step that Michelin needs to improve for next year, in my opinion.
It’s what changed from Le Mans to Mugello. I think already in Jerez and Le Mans I was competitive. I just needed the real speed, the last piece to give me the necessary energy to keep for longer this speed and this is what happened in Mugello. Even if not everybody believes that.”
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Grand Prix Qualifying Results- Jorge Lorenzo / Ducati Team / 1m 38.680s
- Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda / 1m 38.746s
- Andrea Dovizioso / Ducati Team / 1m 38.923s
- Maverick Vinales / Movistar Yamaha / 1m 39.145s
- Andrea Iannone / Suzuki Ecstar / 1m 39.148s
- Danilo Petrucci / Pramac Ducati / 1m 39.178s
- Valentino Rossi / Movistar Yamaha / 1m 39.266s
- Johann Zarco / Monster Yamaha Tech3 / 1m 39.331s
- Tito Rabat / Reale Avintia / 1m 39.504s
- Cal Crutchlow / LCR Honda / 1m 39.556s
- Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda / 1m 39.695s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / 1m 39.888s
- Jack Miller / Pramac Ducati / 1m 39.732s
- Hafizh Syahrin / Monster Yamaha Tech3 / 1m 39.879s
- Alex Rins / Suzuki Ecstar / 1m 39.918s
- Aleix Espargaro / Factory Aprilia Gresini / 1m 40.010s
- Bradley Smith / Red Bull KTM Factory / 1m 40.019s
- Franco Morbidelli / EG 0,0 Marc VDS / 1m 40.058s
- Pol Espargaro / Red Bull KTM Factory / 1m 40.178s
- Scott Redding / Factory Aprilia Gresini / 1m 40.300s
- Karel Abraham / Angel Nieto Team / 1m 40.449s
- Alvaro Bautista / Angel Nieto Team / 1m 40.524s
- Mika Kallio / Red Bull KTM Factory / 1m 40.572s
- Thomas Luthi / EG 0,0 Marc VDS / 1m 40.590s
- Sylvain Guintoli / Suzuki Ecstar / 1m 40.834s
- Xavier Simeon / Reale Avintia / 1m 41.369s
- source : MotoGP
