Rossi Heads Into Qualifying On Top

Jun 26, 2015
2 min read

Valentino Rossi heads into qualifying later today as the fastest man, giving the Italian his first real shot at pole position since Valencia last year. The Italian snatched top spot right at the end of the session with a 1:33.167, and has looked fast and consistent all weekend. FP4 will be most telling as to what his race pace is like. Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo completed a Movistar Yamaha 1-2 just 0.108 behind Rossi after a great final effort. The Spaniard too looks very quick and consistent, all pointing towards a fantastic qualifying and race tomorrow as the pair lock horns for the lead of the championship.

Andrea Iannone pulled himself up the order after a fairly average start to the weekend for the Ducati team. The Italian managed 3rd quickest on the soft rear tyre, with team-mate Andrea Dovizioso just 0.064 behind in 4th .

Bradley Smith completed the top 5 after starting the session all the way down in 11th. The Tech 3 rider took over at the top for a brief moment and will be a good bet for a front row start on the Satellite M1. Pol Espargaro also lifted himself into the top 10 in 9th.

Cal Crutchlow just made it through in 10th, but only by 0.069 seconds.

Suzuki had a mixed morning. Maverick Vinales turned up the wick on the soft tyre and managed 8th quickest, but it was Aleix Espargaro who shocked and not in a good way. The pole sitter of one year ago, and 2 weeks ago in Barcelona was 12th at the chequered flag and will have to go through QP1. Worse for the Spaniard is that the field is so closely condensed that he may not lift himself out. Pramac's Danilo Petrucci just missed the top ten in FP3 and Stefan Bradl looks quite threatening on the soft tyre shod Forward Yamaha.

Honda led the way before the session but fell to 6th and 7th by session's end. Marc Marquez is running a hybrid RC213V fitted with the 2014 frame and 2015 swingarm and exhaust in an attempt to give the Spaniard more front grip and rear stability. He says that he can push more on the bike, but he still looks a little unstable through some of the corners. His race run in FP4 will be very interesting.

QP2 Runners:

Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Maverick Vinales, Team Suzuki Ecstar

Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Cal Crutchlow, CWM LCR Honda

QP1 Runners: