Photography by Gold & Goose
It was a red-letter day for Suzuki. The manufacturer that just came back to MotoGP this season scored a 1st and 2nd in qualifying for Sunday’s Catalunya Grand Prix with riders Aleix Espargaro on pole and Maverick Vinales starting alongside him on the front row in second. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will round out the front-row starters in third. Espargaro clinched the pole with a new track record of 1:40.546. It marked the second-career pole for Espargaro.
It is the first MotoGP pole for Suzuki in eight years. Chris Vermeulen last put a Suzuki on the pole at a MotoGP at a wet Assen in 2007.
Aleix Espargaro started off the proceedings of Q2 topping the charts, but with eight-and-a-half minutes to go Marquez went faster with the record-setting 1:40.794.
Lorenzo, using a three-run strategy, came in halfway through the session to switch to his B bike. It paid off as the Yamaha rider blistered to an even fresher track record of 1:40.646. It was obvious this day would mark the fastest MotoGP qualifying session ever at Catalunya.
At one point Honda’s Dani Pedrosa turned to show frustration with other riders who he felt messed up his fast lap.
With just over two minutes to go Aleix Espargaro went to the top with a 1:40.546. His teammate Maverick Vinales then went to second making Suzuki one-two, bringing a big cheer from the Suzuki garage.
Pol Espargaro crashed in turn one with just a minute to go. Cal Crutchlow was on a fast lap when he fell in turn 10 on his final lap. Both riders were OK.
In the end it was Suzuki one-two, both Aleix Espargaro and Vinales using the softer option tires allowed to Open Class teams and Lorenzo looking good for the race as the fastest rider on standard tires. Defending series champ Marquez will head up the second row alongside Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and Honda teammate Pedrosa. Championship leader Valentino Rossi qualified seventh and will start on the third row.
American Nicky Hayden will start 18th on his Aspar Honda.
It was impossible to not to see the excitement from Aleix Espargaro as he was interviewed after his groundbreaking qualifying performance at his home circuit.
“Unbelievable,” Espargaro exclaimed with a smile. “With the first tire I pushed a lot, but not in the leaning. With the second one I say, ‘everything or nothing’. So I pushed in the leaning, the last split was unbelievable – I almost crashed in the last corner because I open really early the throttle. It’s fantastic – one-two for Suzuki after the hard work they’ve been doing the last two months to bring here the new engine. So this is like a present for Suzuki. I’m really happy and I hope tomorrow we can be able to fight for the podium again.”
Vinales was pleased as well with the best-ever MotoGP qualifying position for the MotoGP rookie.
“It was amazing,” said Vinales, who also calls Catalunya his home race. “I mean this is my best result here so of course I’m really happy. For tomorrow we have a good opportunity to show our best performance on the races and for sure we will try to make our best. Of course it will be difficult – 25 laps here it will be quite hot, but we will give all we have.”
The Catalunya Grand Prix can be watched live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:30 am Eastern.
Catalunya MotoGP Qualifying Results – June 13, 2015
1. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 40.546s [Lap 5/7] 333km/h (Top Speed)
2. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 40.629s +0.083s [6/8] 334km/h
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.646s +0.100s [5/8] 337km/h
4. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.754s +0.208s [7/7] 344km/h
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 40.907s +0.361s [6/7] 343km/h
6. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.928s +0.382s [6/7] 346km/h
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 41.058s +0.512s [7/7] 336km/h
8. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 41.068s +0.522s [6/7] 340km/h
9. Cal Crutchlow GBR CWM LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 41.195s +0.649s [3/6] 344km/h
10. Yonny Hernandez COL Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 41.333s +0.787s [6/7] 342km/h
11. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 41.385s +0.839s [6/6] 339km/h
12. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 41.524s +0.978s [3/7] 346km/h
13. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 42.003s 342km/h
14. Scott Redding GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 42.029s 339km/h
15. Stefan Bradl GER Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 42.053s 333km/h
16. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.1) 1m 42.155s 341km/h
17. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 1m 42.273s 336km/h
18. Nicky Hayden USA Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 1m 42.485s 332km/h
19. Loris Baz FRA Athina Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 42.592s 328km/h
20. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 42.600s 334km/h
21. Jack Miller AUS CWM LCR Honda (RC213V-RS) 1m 42.928s 335km/h
22. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 1m 42.971s 328km/h
23. Alex De Angelis RSM E-Motion IodaRacing (ART) 1m 43.601s 327km/h
24. Marco Melandri ITA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 44.345s 332km/h
Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RC213V-RS) No Time
