MotoGP: Remarkable Rossi gets first pole since 2010 in seasons final Valencia round

Rossi gets first pole since Le Mans 2010

The closing curtain of the 2014 MotoGP season will fall tomorrow at the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, following a race in which Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez will start from the first and second rows, respectively. The reigning World Champion was out of contention for pole position after he crashed during the final minutes of the session. Marquez will start fifth, behind his fellow Repsol Honda teammate starting from third.

A super heated last qualifying session of the season at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this afternoon saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi rise to the top to start tomorrow’s Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana from pole position. His teammate Jorge Lorenzo will start directly behind him from fourth place on the grid.

Rossi clinched his first pole since Le Mans 2010 by lingering in the pits for a little while at the start of the session, allowing him to fully focus on a lap time once he entered a relatively empty track. Putting down a 1’31.765, the nine-time World Champion briefly set provisional pole. He went on to further improve his time but not his position with a 1’31.614 lap, leaving him in eighth place with eight minutes of the session remaining. Rossi then returned to the pits for fresh rubber and was back out again two minutes later. He became one of the key protagonists in an incredible fight for pole as the times started to drop into the 1’30s. His improvements continued as he initially set provisional pole with a 1’31.198 lap. He later got pushed back to fourth but, with one lap remaining after the flag had come out, he dropped a final time of 1’30.843 to take the 50th pole in his MotoGP career and his 60th pole over all classes.

Teammate Lorenzo was also one of the last riders to get on the track this afternoon. Once out he immediately fired off a fast lap and set provisional pole with a 1’31.726, before getting pushed back to eighth as the pace quickened. He went on to improve with a 1’31.421 to rise back up to second and with seven minutes remaining returned to the pits for a fresh rear qualifying tyre. Three minutes later he was back out and continued to improve his time when he put in another hot lap of 1’31.049, to move up four places to second. He looked good for a front row until a flurry of late activity from other riders pushed him to fourth position, on the second row.

Valentino Rossi POLE “Getting my 50th pole position in my MotoGP career is a great achievement. It was a bit of a surprise, I didn’t expect it. I knew that I could do a good lap time because I felt really good with the bike. When I pushed the times were already not so bad, but on the last lap I was able to give a little bit extra. To get another pole position after four years is quite emotional. I like it a lot and I’m very happy, especially because it will be very important for tomorrow’s race.”

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing)“I am very happy to start from second on the grid. Yesterday was a very difficult day, but I went to bed confident knowing that the night brings advice! This morning we worked on the bike and found the problem that prevented me to drive as I wanted. In qualifying I felt good and I was able to push even though I burned my arm. I was able to make the best time, but then It was slightly faster than me earning the pole. I am pleased with this performance, I must say that it is wrong to close the final qualifying of the year so! “

The free practice in the morning saw Marc Marquez leading the timesheet, improving on his times from yesterday despite a fall in turn five midway through the outing. Dani Pedrosa also took a step forward from yesterday’s practice round, finishing the session in sixth position. While they finished first and second in the fourth outing, Marquez and Pedrosa did not begin the final qualifying quite as positively.

At the start of the session, and on the first tyre, Pedrosa was briefly situated in sixth with Marquez seventh. Later, in the final outing, World Champion Marquez was running in second with a fastest time of 1:31.144, but a lap later, a crash in Turn 4 forced him down three positions upon the session close. Pedrosa was able to improve during his final fast lap, setting a time of 1:30.999, and will start tomorrow’s race from third position, on a first row led by Valentino Rossi.

Marc Marquez 5th– “On the one hand I’m happy, because we have a great pace and a great setup for tomorrow, but on the other hand I am a little annoyed that I made a mistake in qualifying. I apologise to the team, because we could have fought for pole position. I made one mistake on the first stint and another on the second, causing me to crash. You learn from these things and I’ll go out tomorrow looking to enjoy the race, because we are ready to battle for the win.”

Jorge Lorenzo – “Fourth place is good, keeping in mind that all the riders’ times are very close. I tried to do some good lap times. I did one fast lap but I made a mistake in the second and I went wide and I lost one or two tenths of a second. Valentino was behind me and he improved his lap time and went in front. This happens sometimes and you can lose some positions because of it. Our rivals are really competitive and they can take slow corners really late and exit corners very easily with a lot of acceleration, but we are not so bad. We have a great pace. The race is going to be long, so it won’t be easy but we have a lot of potential to win the race.”