The fans at Mugello were treated to a great battle in qualifying on Saturday afternoon with Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo upstaging his team-mate Valentino Rossi on the World Champion’s home track, with the Spaniard taking pole and the Italian off the front row.
In brilliant sunshine at the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice 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 (0.021s). MotoGP.com
Click Here to View More MotoGP Images
Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi is eyeing his eighth win at Mugello but will have his work cut out from the second row, his time of 1:49.148 good enough only for fourth place behind the flying Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki).
The Yamahas dominated for much of the session but Stoner upset the applecart with 15 minutes remaining when he jumped to the top of the timesheets.
Rossi responded to take provisional pole but the Italian was upstaged by compatriot Capirossi, who went quickest with just two minutes left in the session.
The Suzuki man’s lap was not enough to deprive Lorenzo, however, who sealed the pole with his final run as Stoner fell agonisingly short with his own last-gasp effort. The Press Association
Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who is nine points behind his compatriot Lorenzo in fourth overall, finished qualifying eighth after hurting his leg earlier on Saturday when he took a knock on a curve in practice. guardian.co.uk
| 
|