Repsol Honda rider clinches pole on final lap and breaks Mugello circuit record, whilst Marquez places sixth despite fractured humerus.
Dani Pedrosa imposed his authority at Mugello on Saturday, taking pole position in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard took the top spot with his final lap of the day, breaking the circuit record in the process. Marc Marquez, who suffered a fractured right humerus and abrasion to his chin in a heavy crash yesterday, placed sixth for a second row start.
After the third free practice session this morning, Pedrosa had managed to improve his feeling with his bike and place second, just 0.250 off Jorge Lorenzo. In the fourth session, he was the fastest rider. When it came to qualifying, the World Championship leader had to push to the fullest, right until the end. With a disappointing first hot lap due to traffic, the Repsol Honda Team rider put in a sterling final lap that bordered on perfection. He beat his own pole record from last year with a time of 1’47.157.
Teammate Marc Marquez was back on track after his accident from Friday. Still sore from the heavy crash, another small fall in the third practice session when he ran off on Turn 12 impeded his progress to QP2. Rebounding in the repecharge with the fastest time, the rookie then put in a 1’47.763 lap for sixth on the grid. His final time around, he was unable to improve his time, but he remains in a strong position for the MotoGP race at 14:00 on Sunday -for which rain is predicted.
