MotoGP news

Lorenzo takes pole in Italy

Jorge Lorenzo caused an upset with Italian fans by seizing pole position at Mugello for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard, Yamaha team-mate to local megastar Valentino Rossi, snatched the top spot by 21 thousandths of a second from Casey Stoner as Rossi fell back to fourth position behind compatriot Loris Capirossi's Suzuki.

In bright conditions at Mugello, four riders fought for pole right at the death with Lorenzo eventually emerging on top, courtesy of a 1.48.987 time on the 29th of his 30 laps, beating Casey Stoner by a tight margin of just 0.021 seconds.

Lorenzo has finished fastest in all but one of the sessions so far this weekend

Ducati star Stoner will be satisfied to have placed himself on the front row and given his practice performances should be in contention for victory on Sunday. Just behind Stoner on the grid will be his former team-mate Loris Capirossi who surged to provisional pole in the final minutes on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R before eventually ending up third.

Rossi, therefore, sits in the unfamiliar territory of the second row at a circuit where he has won the last seven MotoGP races and he will nonetheless expect to be in the podium fight once again on Sunday. It will be his first non-front row start at Mugello in MotoGP. An excellent showing from the much improved Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda saw him qualify as the top Honda representative, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards just behind him by a 0.048 second fraction.

Repsol Honda's factory Honda pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will be disappointed to have qualified on the third row, meanwhile. An off-colour Pedrosa spent much of the session towards the bottom of the timesheet and he will need one of his trademark strong starts in Sunday's race in order to get amongst the front-runners and stay in touch in the title race.

Toni Elías' Honda Gresini took a tumble when on a fast lap at the end of the practice and had to settle for ninth place, with fellow Honda rider Yuki Takahashi Scot Racing machine completing the top ten.

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• 07 Nov.
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• 06 Nov.
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• 05 Nov.
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• 04 Nov.
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• 03 Nov.
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• 27 Oct.
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• 25 Oct.
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  • Photos: Sunday at Sepang
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• 24 Oct.
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  • Motivated Pedrosa aims for race win at Sepang
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• 23 Oct.
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• 22 Oct.
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• 21 Oct.
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• 20 Oct.
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