Dani Pedrosa took his second pole position of the year during the Italian Grand Prix qualifying session this afternoon as Jorge Lorenzo aborted his final lap which would’ve certainly got him the top spot.
Lorenzo was on course to pole on his final run before abandoning it and angrily entering the pits, slamming his hand on his bike in displeasure.
Pramac Ducati rider Hector Barbera secured his first front row start by qualifying third, followed by Ducati rider Nicky Hayden in fourth.
After his Friday practice struggles, Honda rider Casey Stoner never looked like a pole contender on Saturday; the Australian eventually settled for fifth place.
Tech 3 duo Cal Crutchlow and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso ended up sixth and seventh respectively, with the former recovering from a late crash at Turn 12.
Ben Spies qualified ninth after a similar crash to Crutchlow’s, sandwiched between LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Ducati’s Valentino Rossi.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m47.284s 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m47.423s + 0.139s 3. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 1m47.545s + 0.261s 4. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m47.671s + 0.387s 5. Casey Stoner Honda 1m47.689s + 0.405s 6. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m47.749s + 0.465s 7. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m47.751s + 0.467s 8. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m47.857s + 0.573s 9. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m48.149s + 0.865s 10. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m48.502s + 1.218s 11. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m48.894s + 1.610s 12. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m49.387s + 2.103s 13. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m49.450s + 2.166s 14. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m50.263s + 2.979s 15. Yonny Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m50.610s + 3.326s 16. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m50.812s + 3.528s 17. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia 1m50.953s + 3.669s 18. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 1m51.242s + 3.958s 19. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m51.348s + 4.064s 20. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia 1m51.473s + 4.189s