MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso on Pole at Sepang

Photo by Gold & Goose

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) pulled a fast one in qualifying for the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, taking pole position in the soaked session to line up in P1 for the second time in 2016. ‘DesmoDovi’, who abandoned his original strategy in qualifying in favor of a harder rear tire, was the only one of those on the front row who took to pit lane during Q2, and was on provisional pole before then heading out to lower his own lap time further.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took P2 on his final lap, just edging out teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

With eight different winners so far in 2016 and the Italian veteran having taken his premier class win in the wet at Donington Park, a wet race at Sepang – although not popular in the paddock – could prove a good opportunity for ‘DesmoDovi’ to become that record-breaking winner number nine of the season.

“Every practice has been a challenge, because of the rain but also the asphalt,” Dovizioso explained. “The grip is very good but there are wet patches on the line, and you can’t ride quite how you want. And here when it starts to rain it’s really heavy…you have to adapt to every condition and I’m really happy with the way we worked with our strategy – I was able to do a good lap time on the harder tire and the soft. My strategy was supposed to be non-stop and qualifying on the soft tire, and I knew everyone else was on the hard so I thought maybe I was wrong. But then I decided to come in the box a bit late, and then I could only do a few fast laps on the hard tire, but the second one was enough for the pole position. This morning in the dry it wasn’t great, but this weekend the conditions have been strange. So, I hope we can try and improve the feeling tomorrow in Warm up. Everyone wants to race in the dry, but we are competitive in the wet.”

Conditions for Q2 remained wet, but Dovizioso came out fighting near the start of the session and set what was an unthreatened provisional pole position lap time on only his second attempt – before being the only man able to beat that as he later took another few hundredths off. Rossi suffered a small moment around Turn 1 in the session, before gathering it back in to go for another attack and just take second on his final run.

Lorenzo, who has struggled in 2016 getting the Michelin wet front tire to work for him, put in a stunning show in the difficult conditions to not only duel with teammate Rossi, but qualify on the front row in conditions that have proved more difficult for the Mallorcan this season.

Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) heads the second row as he struggles with illness and isn’t quite 100%, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) crashing out as he pushed to move forward – and then picking the bike up to go for one more lap, taking an impressive P5.

Recovering and returning Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) put in a solid run in difficult conditions to qualify in sixth, ahead of the Team Suzuki Ecstar duo of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales – who both struggled slightly more in the wet conditions of the Q2 session.

Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will line up ninth after not only graduating to Q2 but also qualifying within the top ten for the Noale factory, with Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) impressing to complete the top ten, after graduating from Q1.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was P11 after a tyre decision switch, ahead of twelfth-placed Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing), with race day however sure to see track conditions change once again – and Sepang International Circuit ready for another spectacular Sunday clash.

The race on Sunday takes the green at 3:00 am Eastern and can be watched on beIN Sports on online via subscription at MotoGP.com.

SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification

Sepang, Saturday, October 29, 2016