The Hammer Strikes In Crucial Qualifying

Nov 7, 2015
4 min read

Jorge Lorenzo took a crucial pole position ahead of the title-deciding 30-lap Valencia Grand Prix. The Spaniard was untouchable at the top, setting a new qualifying record for the Ricardo Tormo Circuit with a lap of 1:30.011. Lorenzo was nearly half a-second clear of the rest of the field, and his race pace in FP3 puts the ball firmly in his court as he guns for his fifth world title tomorrow afternoon.

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa complete the front row but had no answer for the juggernaut assault from their compatriot. Marquez looked like he had it sewn up on his first tour when he crossed the line with a 1:30.499. His second and third runs saw him make mistakes on his quick laps, but even he admitted that had his laps been clean he'd still have struggled to match Lorenzo. Pedrosa was just a couple of hundredths shy of his team-mate.

Honda still seem to be struggling with the front tyre overheating, something that looked almost resolved during FP3 and FP4. But track temperature rose again for qualifying and the RC213V struggled once more. With conditions to be largely the same tomorrow, HRC will need to dig deep overnight to rectify the situation tomorrow.

Aleix Espargaro put in a stunning effort to go fourth fastest on the GSX-RR. The Suzuki rider had to contest the first qualifying session, as did team-mate Maverick Vinales, but both made it through with relative ease. The latter of the pair had a monster high side exiting turn three in QP1 and was very nearly collected by the Aspar Honda-mounted Nicky Hayden. Despite this, Vinales jumped straight to his feet and bolted back to pit-lane to get his second bike, with which he took top spot in the session. Clearly beginning to feel some discomfort from his earlier crash, the young Spaniard could only manage eleventh.

Cal Crutchlow clung onto the back of Marquez on his final lap and dragged himself to a solid fifth on the LCR Honda. Cal will be out to end the season as top Satellite rider in the final race, but that will be tough with Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro chasing him from sixth and eighth.

Andrea Iannone didn't quite deliver on the promise he set in FP3 and will start from a disappointing seventh. With main championship rival Pedrosa in third, the Italian really needs to get the start of his life tomorrow if he is to secure fourth in the standings. Team-mate Dovizioso was two tenths adrift in ninth.

Danilo Petrucci will be happy with his day's work after putting his Pramac Ducati GP14.2 tenth, just a few hundredths off of Desmo Dovi. Yonny Hernandez starts his final race with the team a lowly eighteenth after his final lap was scuppered by the errant GP14 of Hector Barbera at turn two, which nearly collected the Colombian when the Spaniard lost the front of his Avintia machine under braking.

This may prove a costly mistake for Barbera, because Open class rival Loris Baz starts right behind him in sixteenth. Barbera has a five-point advantage over the Frenchman, who'll be his Avintia team-mate in 2016.

Nicky Hayden's last Grand Prix will commence from seventeenth. The RC213V-RS just doesn't seem to like the circuit at all, with the other Open Honda's of Jack Miller, Ant West and Eugene Laverty lining up 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively.

Broc Parkes brought up the rear of the field in qualifying, but will not start last tomorrow. Valentino Rossi's tenth title chances look all but gone now after a nightmare day for the Italian. Of course his position in QP2 was immaterial as his grid penalty imposed following the 'Sepang Clash' will see him start last. Just to compound his misery, he crashed at turn eight towards the end of QP2. More troubling for him is the pace of Lorenzo and the fact that the wrong bikes are on the top two rows.

He needed at least one of the Factory Desmosedicis to line up on, at worst, the second row to try and get amongst the leaders and cause issues for his team-mate. He also needed both Repsol bikes to start ahead of Lorenzo to try and stop the Spaniard getting into turn one first and darting away. Instead Honda look set for an internal squabble on track for second and the Satellite gaggle on row two, who have been critical of Rossi regarding Sepang, will not be holding back tomorrow.

Miracles and disasters needs to occur tomorrow in Rossi's favour if he is to win the title. But whilst he theoretically has no lead in the standings coming from the back, Lorenzo still has a seven-point deficit. It's also worth noting that, in that infamous 2006 decider, Rossi started from pole position.

This isn't over yet.

2015 Valencia Grand Prix – The Grid:

1st Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:30.011

2nd Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, 1:30.499

3rd Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 1:30.516

4th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1:30.917

5th Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda, 1:30.948

6th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:31.012

7th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team, 1:31.056

8th Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:31.080

9th Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, 1:31.245

10th Danilo Petrucci, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati, 1:31.292