Jorge Lorenzo took the pole position for the MotoGP Catalan Grand prix. The Ducati rider was fastest during qualifying at the Catalunya circuit. Marc Marquez was second while Andrea Dovizioso took the third place.
Lorenzo on pole at Catalunya
“I’m very satisfied because today was a fantastic day! We have been competitive in every session and I feel entirely at ease on the bike. My first pole position with Ducati is a really special one and it gives me a special satisfaction because I’ve done it at the Catalan GP”, Lorenzo explained.
“After the good sensations at Mugello, coming here and progressing, in the same way, means that we are working very well. In my first exit I tried to set a time but for some reason, I didn’t have the same grip with the rear tyre. I kept calm and on my second run, I pushed to the max. It wasn’t easy because Marquez was also lapping really strongly, but in the end, we did it. The race will be difficult, but we are amongst the favourites and it’ll be vitally important to keep concentration for the 24 laps.”
“In Mugello I felt great and here I probably feel even better” – @lorenzo99 ?#CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/lukTFU20ya
— MotoGP™? (@MotoGP) June 16, 2018
Marquez said it was a great qualifying session for him
“It’s important to be on the front row because both Jorge and Dovi are very fast here. Still, we were able to get quite close to them, and I’m very happy about that because our day had been a bit complicated before that: I crashed while I was pushing for a fast lap this morning and had to go through Q1”, Marquez commented.
“Anyway, I was still confident in myself as I knew we were capable of being very fast. Then, in FP4, I had that big save in the last downhill corner! I hit a bump and started to lose the front. I tried to save it with my knee, with my elbow—with my whole body!—while thinking of my mechanics, who had told me, ‘Please don’t crash, as we need two bikes for QP1 and QP2!’ I think it was one of the best of my career, definitely good for the fans. Still, I think I’ll try and not repeat it tomorrow!”
“Every time the save is getting better and better” – @marcmarquez93 ?#CatalanGP ? pic.twitter.com/dOHpNBTbaq
— MotoGP™? (@MotoGP) June 16, 2018
Dovizioso was also happy with the front-row position
“It was important to start from the first two rows here at Montmeló because tomorrow in the race we will have to try and manage the tyres well. Jorge has been very quick since yesterday, but we’ve been able to improve after every session: this was very important and we did it. I came to qualifying with a good feeling and even though I made a small mistake at Turn 10, in the end, I was able to set a very good lap time. I’m very satisfied because we’ve worked well this weekend and even though we know that it will be difficult to manage the tyres for the entire race, all the riders will have the same problem, and we’re sure we can play our cards”, he added.
Here’s the grid for tomorrow’s #CatalanGP ⏱@lorenzo99 will start from pole, can he double up? pic.twitter.com/eY4mpuUeY4
— MotoGP™? (@MotoGP) June 16, 2018
