Kent King In Italy Qualifying

Danny Kent annihilated the the field in Mugello to take his second pole position of the 2015 season. The Leopard Racing Honda rider was the initial pace setter, but fell to 2nd whilst he sat in his box. With 15-minutes left on the clock he took to the track and somehow managed to find clear air. The Briton produced an absolutely sensational lap of 1:56.615 to go top and set a new lap record by over three-tenths of a second.

Joining Kent on the front row is his team-mate Hiroki Ono, who put in a great lap to go 2nd quickest. The Japanese rider had already had a decent first three sectors of the lap, but found a tow on the pit-straight to become the only other rider in the 1:56's with a 1:56.904. The other Leopard Racing Honda of Efren Vazquez didn't fair so well, and will line up a disappointing 15th.

Romano Fenati went top early in the session and looked untouchable up until the closing stages. His first lap in the final minutes of the session was ruined by the idling Niccolo Antonelli and Enea Bastianini, who were looking for clear air at turn five – the pair nearly coming to blows. The SKY Racing VR46 rider made sure there was no one around him as he slowed right down for the Bucine corner to gear up for his final flying lap. But in doing so, Fenati compromised his run onto the pit-straight and therefore was unable to go any faster. He has to settle for 3rd, but given the Italian's typical qualifying performances it's not too bad; remember, he won here 12-months coming from 3rd on the final corner.

Karel Hanika had a career best qualifying after he guided his Red Bull Ajo KTM to 4th, whilst Antonelli completed the top five.

Jakub Kornfeil placed himself well on his fast lap and utilised the traffic around to go 6th on the Drive M7 SIC KTM. Enea Bastianini was a disappointing 7th after showing a lot of promise in practice. The Italian came from 18th to 2nd in Le Mans however, so a maiden win is still on the cards. Gresini team-mate Andrea Locatelli was a respectable 9th, showing the sort of pace we saw from the young Italian in Qatar.

Francesco Bagnaia put the Mapfre Mahindra between the Gresini Honda's in 8th, with Isaac Vinales completing the top ten on the Factory Husqvarna.

Fabio Quartararo has been getting to grips with the Tuscan circuit as he makes his Mugello début. He made his intentions clear following FP3 after going top, and looked set to take over at the top of the QP time sheets with six-minutes left on the clock. The Frenchman crashed under braking for turn ten and his session was prematurely ended. Despite his Estrella Galicia Honda hitting him on its way to the gravel, Quartararo was unhurt and will start 13th.

Qualifying Top 10:

1st Danny Kent, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:56.615 (Lap Record)

2nd Hiroki Ono, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:56.904

3rd Romano Fenati, SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM, 1:57.319

4th Karel Hanika, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:57.329

5th Niccolo Antonelli, Ongetta-Rivacold Honda, 1:57.333

6th Jakub Kornfeil, Drive M7 SIC Racing Team KTM, 1:57.366

7th Enea Bastianini, Junior Gresini Team Moto3 Honda, 1:57.393

8th Francesco Bagnaia, Mapfre Mahindra Team, 1:57.529

9th Andrea Locatelli, Junior Gresini Team Moto3 Honda, 1:57.551

10th Isaac Vinales, Husqvarana Factory Laglisse, 1:57.647

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