Jorge Lorenzo takes Misano pole

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team sprinkled a little Misano magic on qualifying this afternoon as Jorge Lorenzo set a scorching pace to score the first Factory Yamaha pole position start of the season.

Putting yesterday’s rain and troubles behind him, Lorenzo was quick on to the circuit for the start of the 15 minute qualifying heat and straight to work.

His first flying lap delivered a 1’33.604. He kept pushing for the second lap and shaved a little off to go second with a 1’33.502 before returning to the pits for fresh rubber.

He was back on track in confident mood with a little under six minutes remaining as an intense battle got underway for the front row.

A flurry of fastest sections followed by numerous protagonists but it was Lorenzo who emerged the victor, taking provisional pole with two minutes left on the clock after a scorching 1’33.238 second lap time.

The lap proved unbeatable, putting the Movistar Yamaha rider on pole for the first time this year.

Jorge Lorenzo – 1st | 1’33.238 | 8 Laps
“Finally after a long, long time, we make a pole position so I’m very proud. From the beginning we’ve been competitive, not like in Silverstone where we had some issues. It seems like the Yamaha is working very well as Valentino is also very fast. I pushed hard in the beginning but maybe didn’t know the perfect lines for the perfect lap. Then in the second tyre I made a very good lap time but just in the first section I lost one or two tenths because I made some mistakes and went wide. From section two I made an unbelievable lap so I’m very proud. The important thing is tomorrow, it’s the day we get the points so we have to make a good start and try to lead the race and win. Being on pole gives a small advantage at the start so I will try to make profit of it and push away in the first laps. It won’t be easy to go away as Vale has a good pace and the others will be there but I’m going to try.”

Source: Yamaha MotoGP