Lorenzo takes pole with Ducati power

Jorge Lorenzo on pole

Using Ducati's superior HP advantage, Jorge Lorenzo shattered his own previous Misano lap record to take pole position for MotoGP's San Marino Grand Prix.

Lorenzo improved on his 2016 record on his first flying lap, beating Marquez's previous top time – already the best of the weekend – by two-and-a-half tenths.

The duo stayed first and second until the mid-session lull and both returned to the track relatively early, beginning a fast lap with six minutes still on the clock.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]However Lorenzo did not improve and then pitted.

Marquez, who was running a two-stop strategy in qualifying, then suffered a dramatic crash at Turn 15 on his second run which he almost saved on his elbow.

Marquez then sprinted back to the garage and mounted his second bike with four minutes left of the session to run.

Marquez was forced to bail out of his final lap after a moment at Turn 10 which saw him eventually drop to fifth place by the checkered flag.

Lorenzo on the other hand managed to lower his time by a further tenth as the checkered flag fell, topping the session with a best time of 1m31.629s, 0.287s ahead of Jack Miller, also on a Ducati.

More to follow……

Qualifying Results