Spaniard Dani Pedrosa denied MotoGP championship leader Jorge Lorenzo his sixth straight pole by clocking the fastest lap in qualifying for today’s Czech Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Honda rider, who trails compatriot Lorenzo by 72 points in the standings, secured the top spot with a best lap of one minute, 56.508 seconds at the 5.4km Brno circuit.
American Ben Spies will start from second position after a best lap of one minute, 56.846 seconds on his Yamaha.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lorenzo crashed his Yamaha in the final minutes of qualifying and will aim for his seventh victory of the season from third spot.
Teammate and MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi also crashed in the final minutes and will start from fifth position in his third race back after a broken leg kept him out for four races. The 31-year-old Italian, last year’s Czech winner, is set to announce today who he will race for next year.
Previously, Lorenzo, rested and refreshed by a Caribbean summer break, dominated Friday’s practice for the Czech Grand Prix.
The Yamaha rider, who has won six of the nine races so far, had a 72-point lead over compatriot Pedrosa of Honda into today’s event, which kicks off the second half of the season.
He clocked a best time of oneminute 57.215 seconds, 0.541 secnods faster than Pedrosa.
“It’s always difficult to return to work after the vacation,” said 23-year-old Lorenzo, who has yet to win at Brno in the MotoGP class.
“This track is so different to Laguna Seca, so wide and much longer; it took me a few more laps than usual to get going,” he said. “Of course I want to win here, but my main objective is to win the championship.”
Lorenzo won at Brno in the 125cc class in 2004 and then the 250cc division in 2006 and 2007, victories that helped him to back-to-back world titles in the sport’s second tier contest.
In the MotoGP race last year, however, he failed to score a point after crashing out although he did have the consolation of breaking the track record.
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