Reuters/Silverstone, England
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| Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista of the San Carlo Honda Grisini team enters The Loop corner during yesterday’s qualifying session of the British Moto GP at Silverstone race track, Northamptonshire, Britain. (EPA) |
The Honda Gresini rider will share the front row of the starting grid with Yamaha’s American Ben Spies in second place and Australia’s world champion Casey Stoner lining up third on a works Honda.
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, the Spaniard who is 20 points clear of Stoner, will start in fourth place on a Yamaha.
“I never thought that I could get a pole position so early,” said a thrilled Bautista, who joined the Gresini team after Italian Marco Simoncelli died in a crash in Malaysia last October.
“But today I felt very good on the bike and in the wet and dry I felt very comfortable. The (qualifying) practice was quite difficult because the rain started sometimes and at the end it started again to rain.”
Britain’s leading hope Cal Crutchlow, who missed last year’s race when he crashed his Tech3 Yamaha in qualifying, was absent from the session after falling and being taken to hospital with a painful ankle.
His team hoped he would be able to start from the back of the grid on Sunday.
Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi lost control of his Ducati in qualifying with 45 minutes to go, skidding along the asphalt on his backside before sitting up in the gravel. He will start back in 10th.
American team mate and former champion Nicky Hayden also fell near the end of the session and starts seventh.
Stoner, who could be making his final MotoGP appearance in Britain if he goes through with his intention to quit at the end of the season, was disappointed with his afternoon.
“We tried a few things at the start and the bike was a real handful to ride and we couldn’t get around that quick at all,” said the Australian. “So we went another direction and finally found something half-decent.
“The bike felt better so I came straight in to get a new rear (tyre) on and go out and try and get pole but unfortunately the weather pushed it out of our grasp. We were pretty confident of getting pole today.”
Starting Grid
MotoGP
1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) 2min 03.303sec, 2. Ben Spies (USA/Yamaha) at 0.106sec, 3. Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda) 0.120, 4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 0.460, 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 0.532, 6. Hector Barbera (ESP/Ducati) 0.573, 7. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 0.859, 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Yamaha) 1.001, 9. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda) 1.732, 10. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Ducati) 2.113, 11. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 2.980
MOTO2
1. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex 2:08.011; 2. Andrea Iannone (Italy) Speed up 2:08.396; 3. Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex 2:08.616; 4. Bradley Smith (Britain) Tech 3 2:08.844; 5. Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter 2:08.864; 6. Claudio Corti (Italy) Kalex 2:08.883; 7. Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 2:09.120; 8. Johann Zarco (France) Motobi 2:09.353; 9. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Suter 2:09.639; 10. Simone Corsi (Italy) FTR 2:09.776