Rossi wins explosive fight for 52nd premier class pole position

Tension hung in the air as the 12 fastest MotoGP™ World Championship riders zipped up their leathers and pulled on their helmets before stepping out to fight for pole position. Jerez is the shortest circuit of the opening four rounds, crew chiefs and their riders discussing one or two strop strategies until the final moments. As in almost every session at the Gran Premio Red Bull de España, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was the first out of pit lane. Lorenzo, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), who had advanced through Q1, were the only riders to head out with the hard front tyre. The entire field had soft rears fitted from the start.

Straight away times were in the mid 1'39s, matching what riders had done during practice as Jorge Lorenzo seized the early lead. Both he and Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) came into the pits to switch bikes early, the pair looking as though they would opt for a three run strategy. Lorenzo immediately returned to the pits and had the new tyres fitted to his first bike.

Meanwhile Marquez had overtaken the lead of the session with a 1'39.064 and went back into the pits for new tyres, remaining on the same bike. Times were largely unchanged, as the rest of the field had also returned for their second set of Michelin tyres.

With new tyres on his preferred bike, Lorenzo put the hammer down straight away and set a 1'38.858 to jump into provisional pole. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) was able to benefit from the lap as he expertly stuck in the slipstream.

Marquez tried to respond to Lorenzo's lap but once again the final sector proved to be his downfall. He had just one lap left to do it, fans edged forward in their seats as Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) began his final lap with roaring pace as well. All three traded fastest sectors as the checkered flag came out. Rossi was the first to cross the line, producing a 1'38.736 to push Lorenzo to second. It was all down to Marquez, could he snatch a third straight pole?

Try as he might the Spaniard has unable to overcome the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo as Rossi claimed his first pole since the Dutch TT in 2015. This is the first time since 2009 that Rossi has started on the front for three consecutive races and his 52 premier class pole position.

He may be in the best qualifying form in over half a decade, but Rossi won't have it easy on race day as both Lorenzo and Marquez are out for home glory. Lorenzo's time made it a Yamaha 1-2 as the duo were split by 0.122s, clearly the YZR-M1 is working incredibly well at the Jerez circuit. As shown in FP4, Lorenzo is easily able to lap in the 1’39s from the start of a run. This is Lorenzo's fourth front row start of the year, third in Argentina his worst position of 2016.

Completing the front row, Marc Marquez was unable to catch the super smooth Yamahas. Turns 11 and 12 are the source of all of Marquez's problems as he ended 0.155s back on Rossi. All three of the leading trio have had races decided at the final corner in Jerez, will it be three across into Turn 13 on Sunday?

As the battle for pole raged, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) quietly went about his business as he secured fourth on the grid. It's clear the leading trio are a league above, Dovizioso 0.844s back on Lorenzo and 0.689s off a front row start. Fourth on the grid is a great result for Ducati and Dovizioso as the factory team has struggled massively throughout the weekend.

Two Team Suzuki Ecstar bikes completed the second row of the grid, Maverick Viñales out qualifying Aleix Espargaro for the fourth time in 2016. Incredibly Viñales was only 0.001s behind Dovizioso and Espargaro was just 0.007s back on his teammate. The leading three may be set for an exclusive battle for victory, but the fight for fourth place is building to be just as exciting.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) will start from the head of the third row in front of Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing). A very Spanish affair.

The fourth row will feature Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) and Loris Baz (Avintia Racing). Iannone had appeared to find some speed in Free Practice 3, but was not able to carry it over to Q2 as he qualified outside the front two rows for the first time in 2016.

Free Practice 4 and Qualifying was delayed somewhat as over half of Michelin's ten tyre fitting team were struck down with a mystery illness. At the end of the day, those effected were examined and diagnosed with a gastro virus. They were all prescribed medication to combat sickness and told to keep hydrated and will be back to fitting tyres on Sunday.

Moto2â„¢ riders were on lap record pace from the word go, Lowes taking his second pole of 2016 ahead of Folger and Cortese.

Qualifying started with fiery intensity for the intermediate class, the likes of Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) immediately under the pole record. Folger set the first benchmark with a 1'42.589, already 0.06s faster Takaaki Nakagami's (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) record lap from Free Practice 1. A number of riders soon went under the German's time, Folger eventually dropping to a 1'42.436 after an incredible first ten minutes.

It was clear that at 30.6°C the Circuito de Jerez was in its best condition of the weekend. The fast times and ideal conditions lured several riders into a false sense of security, Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) falling at Turn 13 early in the session with fellow Speed Up rider Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team) following suit soon after at Turn 3. Both riders were unharmed and returned to the pits for repairs.

Everything seemed calm until late in the session when Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) unleashed himself upon the Jerez circuit, setting two pole position stealing laps in a row. His wild style was not only thrilling to watch, but also produced a best time of 1'42.408 and subsequently set yet another new record lap. A number of riders down the order were putting in personal best laps but none were able to hold a candle to the British rider. For the fifth time in his career, and the second time in 2016, Lowes will start from pole position, his fourth straight front row start of the season. With none of his title rivals starting on the front row, Lowes has the potential to open up a healthy lead on Sunday.

Also under Nakagami's old lap record, early session leader Jonas Folger was unable to improve his early time and ended 0.028s behind Lowes. Folger has always gone exceedingly well in Jerez, having won the 2015 Spanish GP and taken three additional podiums. For the third time in 2016, Folger will line up on the front row of the grid as he looks to replicate his Argentina GP podium.

Folger's teammate, Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) finished the session in third, 0.003s back on his fellow German and will start on the front row of a Moto2â„¢ World Championship race for the first time since 2014. Since Folger has joined him at the Dynavolt Intact GP team, Cortese has been overshadowed and Sunday presents him with the perfect chance to prove he's still in contention.

The top four were nail bitingly close, Franco Morbidelli missing out on third by 0.041s and missing pole position by 0.072s. Any of the front four could easily win the race and after three disappointing rounds, Morbidelli is ready to turn his season around. Somewhat surprisingly, this is Morbidelli's best Qualifying result of 2016, the Italian strong during the start of the races.

Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) will line up in fifth and as Lowes' highest placed title rival. Since winning in Qatar, Luthi has failed to finish inside the top five.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) achieved his best grid position of the year with sixth, capping off the second row. The Italian's 1'42.571 put him ahead of Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) who is yet to turn his troublesome weekend around. Seventh place is decent result, but not what one would expect from a rider as highly praised as Rins. He has spent the weekend working on his race pace, so should be strong come Sunday if he can stay with his great rival Lowes.

Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing), Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Luis Salom (SAG Team) completed the top ten. It was a disaster of a day for Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) as the French rider hardly featured and qualified down in 16th position.

Premiere pole for rookie Bulega in Jerez

Reigning Moto3â„¢ Junior World Champion Nicolo Bulega flies at the Jerez circuit, taking a career first pole from Binder and Navarro.

Qualifying for the Moto3™ World Championship started under beautiful blue skies in Jerez, ambient temperature steadily climbing above 22°C as the track maintained a solid 25°C temperature. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) came into the session with the fastest time of the weekend, having set a 1'46.575 in Free Practice 3 just before the lunch break.

Early in the session a number of riders had their lap times cancelled for exceeding the track limits. Riding on the curbs is permitted, but at soon as a rider goes beyond them their time is cancelled, in Jerez Turn 10 and 13 were the corners to watch.

Times were slow to improve in the session, riders setting a decent banker lap at the start before returning to the pits for various setup changes. Championship leader Binder gleefully used the clear track to set some of his personal best times. This spurred on his rivals to up their pace and Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) soon set the first 1'46 of the session. His time at the top wouldn't last as 2015 FIM CEV Repsol Moto3â„¢ Junior World Championship champion, Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) dropped to a 1'46.223, the fastest lap of the weekend.

The minutes continued to count down and it appeared as though the Italian rookie would be able to take his first pole position in just his fifth race start. As his time was under a tenth from Jack Miller's 2014 pole record, a very special lap would be needed. The entire Moto3â„¢ field headed out together with six minutes remaining to try and best Bulega's time with the aid of a slipstream. None would be able to usurp the lanky Italian.

Bulega will be looking to shake the pole position curse of Jerez, no riding having won the lightweight class race from pole position in ten years. In a class as full of surprises at Moto3â„¢, the only certainty is that Bulega won't be alone come race day.

Pole may have escaped him by 0.213s, but Brad Binder lines up in prime position to challenge for victory, as the South African starts second. During the dying moments, he was able to produce some fast sectors but encountered too much traffic to make anything happen. Over the course of the weekend Binder has been strong in all sessions and will no doubt be in the hunt for the podium again.

For the third race in a row, Navarro will start on the front row of the grid. Like Binder, Navarro is yet to take victory in the lightweight class and doing so in front of his home crowd would not only be a great achievement, but also do his championship challenge a world of good.

Heading the second row, Francesco Bagnaia (Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3) produced a great result for Mahindra who are so far having a difficult season. The MGP3O didn't have the power to match the KTMs and Hondas in the opening rounds, but the tighter Jerez circuit plays to the incredible chassis of the bike. This is 'Pecco's' second front row start, his first coming in Le Mans where he went on to finish on the podium.

Despite a fall in the middle of the session, Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) was able to qualify in fifth. It hasn't been an easy weekend for the Italian who hasn't quite had the speed to crack the top three. He’s also looking for his first finish at Jerez in three years.

Enea Bastianini completed an all-Italian second row of the grid. Like Antonelli he suffered a fall at Turn 2, unable to improve his time after the crash.

Having come into the weekend carrying a flu and ending practice down in 24th on combined times, Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) rocketed up to seventh in Qualifying. Like Bulega, Mir was forged in the battles of the FIM CEV Repsol, the pair a testament to the high level of the Junior World Championship.

Juanfran Guevara (RBA Racing Team), Romano Fenati (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team) completed the top ten. Bulega's 0.213s advantage over Binder was the single biggest gap between any two riders inside the top 29 who were all within two seconds of each other.
Karel Hanika (Platinum Bay Real Estate) also suffered a fall in the middle of the session. Davide Pizzoli (Procercasa – 42 Motorsport) had his third crash of the weekend, falling at Turn 6. All riders avoided serious injuries in their falls.

Photos courtesy of motogp.com