Spaniard beats Dovi and Marquez as the trio are split by 0.079, with the latter two playing cat and mouse in Q2
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) will start Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon from P1 after sealing his third consecutive pole position of the season in style, snatching Saturday’s honours from teammate Andrea Dovizioso by 0.014 seconds as the Ducati duo overhaul Championship leader Marc Marquez (Respol Honda Team) in Q2.
Q2 sees 12 riders taking to the track with the aim of setting the quickest lap time, with the fastest taking pole position on Sunday
It was third place Marquez who came out the blocks quickest though, immediately clocking a 1:46.974 – the quickest lap of the weekend – on his first flying run, with Lorenzo 0.110 behind and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) on the provisional front row.
The mind games then appeared as the riders came out to try and better their times. Dovizioso had Marquez lurking in his shadows as the top two in the Championship played cat and mouse, which led to both backing out of flying laps as everyone apart from Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) scrapped their opening second-run circulations.
This meant it all came down to a one-lap dash, with Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) leading a freight train of eight riders, as Marquez clung onto the tailpipes of Dovi. The two were setting the timing screens alight but heading into Turn 12, the Honda rider slightly out-braked himself – losing a potential pole lap. Meanwhile, despite having to manoeuvre past Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) at the same corner, ‘DesmoDovi’ went fastest by 0.065 to grab provisional pole, but teammate Lorenzo was on the prowl. Heading out slightly later than the rest of the field, the ‘Spartan’ put the hammer down and snatched pole by 0.014 – his fourth of the season and his fourth successive front row in Aragon.
GRAN PREMIO MOVISTAR DE ARAGÓN
MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 2018
Alcañiz, Saturday, September 22, 2018
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati 335.4 1'46.881
2 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 339.6 1'46.895 0.014 / 0.014
3 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 338.4 1'46.960 0.079 / 0.065
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 336.0 1'47.146 0.265 / 0.186
5 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 336.9 1'47.169 0.288 / 0.023
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 344.1 1'47.224 0.343 / 0.055
7 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 334.0 1'47.351 0.470 / 0.127
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati 337.7 1'47.678 0.797 / 0.327
9 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 330.3 1'47.737 0.856 / 0.059
10 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 331.6 1'47.792 0.911 / 0.055
11 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 336.2 1'47.810 0.929 / 0.018
12 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 327.0 1'48.284 1.403 / 0.474