JEREZ — Italian veteran Valentino Rossi stunned his Spanish rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez by seizing pole position for their home MotoGP race in Jerez Saturday.
Rossi’s fastest time of one minute 38.736 seconds pushed Yamaha teammate and reigning world champion Lorenzo back to second place. 0.122 slower, with Honda’s championship leader Marquez third.
“We work a lot because last year we struggled too much in qualifying,” Rossi said. “This year with Michelin I feel better. I already start on the front row twice this year, but a pole position is different - especially here at Jerez. For sure tomorrow will be very hard with Lorenzo and Marquez. But we are there. We can fight.”
The pole was Rossi’s first since last year’s Dutch round in Assen and his 52nd in the top category.
It was also the 37-year-old’s first pole in Jerez since 2005. The Italian has won six times in 16 starts at the southern circuit in the top flight.
The nine-time world champion, who is 33 points behind Marquez and 12 adrift of Lorenzo, has now qualified on the front row for three successive races — the first time he has done that since 2009.
“The (second) bike was good, just we got a defective tire. Chattering on the rear. So we had to cancel the lap. It was a pity,” Lorenzo explained. “I didn’t feel great on the soft tire today, but I think for the race we have the pace.”
Italian Andrea Dovizioso will line up fourth for Ducati in Sunday’s race, round four of the season, followed by five Spanish riders.
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, 10th for LCR Honda, was the only non-Spanish or Italian rider in the top 10.
The session started late after final free practice was delayed because five out of the 10 Michelin tire fitters were laid low by sickness, meaning it took twice as long to prepare the bikes.
