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Qualifying report

Lorenzo stuns with record Jerez pole

Teammate Valentino Rossi qualified one row behind him, taking fifth.

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Yamaha MotoGP

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his stunning return to form today, dominating the time sheets again at the Circuito de Jerez de la Frontera and setting a new pole position record. Teammate Valentino Rossi left it to the last lap to make his move, securing fifth on the grid for tomorrow‘s Gran Premio de España.

After ruling the standings yesterday, Lorenzo continued his strong and consistent pace right from the outset of today‘s scorching hot 15 minute qualifying session. In typically style, he was the first to leave the pits to be guaranteed an empty racetrack. He moved straight to the top of the standing with his first flying lap, a 1‘38.497, before immediately returning to the pits for a fresh set of rubber with over nine minutes remaining.

I rode many impressive lap times in my career, but this one is very special.

Jorge Lorenzo

A minute later he was back and ready to put the hammer down. He extended his lead with another fastest time of 1‘38.234, but still had some margin left. With just under four minutes left the local hero had a second stop at his box, before starting his final run with less than two minutes on the clock. Having led the entire Q2 session, he saved the best for last when he ended the session by dropping 0,210s under the old pole position record with a spectacular 1‘37.910 lap to secure pole and send a clear message ahead of tomorrow‘s race.

Rossi had a more challenging qualifying. Leaving the pits right behind his teammate, he took fourth on his first hot lap with a 1‘39.179, before dropping three places. As the Doctor was also on a three-stint strategy, he quickly made his way back to the pits to start his second run with a fresh rear tyre and eight minutes remaining.

The nine-time World Champion posted a 1‘38.717 lap to take sixth before, with over four minutes left, he came in for a second time. He returned to the track one and a half minutes later for a final stint. His last last-minute flying lap of 1‘38.632 saw him jump two places up the timesheets from seventh to a fifth place grid start, 0.722 from pole.

Jorge Lorenzo

"A lot of people said that I had a crisis and I was down, it was one of my worst moments, but just two days later I rode this impressive lap time. That shows that in racing you can‘t say things like “this guy is down, he‘s finished” because the next day he‘s going to be at the front. The opposite is true too, you can‘t say you‘re the best, because the next day you‘re at the back, so we have to be humble and work to take profit of the opportunities.

We arrived here with everything being fine and we took profit of it every session. Setting the new pole position record is unbelievable. I rode many impressive lap times in my career, but this one is very special. A 1‘37.9 with these temperatures is very impressive and I am very satisfied. Marc will be strong tomorrow as always and the Ducati's too, but the race is going to be another story. However our pace is very good and I feel very comfortable with the softer tyre when it‘s dropping."

Valentino Rossi

"This qualifying was not so bad, because we improved one position in the last stint. I had to decide which front tyre to use and maybe I made a mistake. I continued with the soft, but for the second stint the second rear tyre had an issue on the right, so I think I could have done a little bit better. Starting from the second row is not so bad for tomorrow. I am especially happy because yesterday was quite difficult. Today we improved the bike a lot, but we are still not at the top."

Massimo Meregalli - Team Director: "We couldn‘t ask for more from Jorge today. He was very fast and rode an incredible lap time. He has been on the pace and consistent this entire weekend and it proves he is very focused and ready for the race. We need to improve Valentino‘s setting a little, so he can be fast and consistent in the last sector. We just need to make some final adjustments during the warm up tomorrow, but then we will be ready to fight for the front. It‘s very difficult to overtake here, so it‘s very important that we‘re starting from the first two rows. It‘s going to be a hot race, not only because of the weather, but also because of the racing action."

Movistar Yamaha

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