MotoGP 2018 British Grand Prix: pole for Jorge Lorenzo ahead of Dovi

Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo takes pole position for the 2018 British Grand Prix in MotoGP. This Silverstone pole is the second of the season for the Mallorcan, after he secured his first at the Catalan Grand Prix, a race he also went on to win.

Rain was the star of Saturday at the British circuit, which is hardly surprising in this part of the world. Track conditions were far from ideal, forcing FP4 to be cut short and delaying Q1 and Q2. There were also quite a few crashes, the most affected rider being Spaniard Tito Rabat. In his fall, the Barcelona rider suffered a broken leg, which makes his participation in the race practically impossible.

Conditions were not ideal for Lorenzo, or at least that is what many think, since the Spaniard has a reputation for not performing well in the rain. With the chequered flag already out and Andrea Dovizioso leading the timesheets, his Ducati teammate improved the Italian’s time by 159 thousandths. The closest challenger to the two riders of the Italian team was Frenchman Johann Zarco, who will start from third place.

Championship leader Marc Márquez will start from the second row after setting the fifth-best time. On that second row we find Cal Crutchlow, fourth, and Danilo Petrucci, fifth. Italian Iannone, Briton Smith and Australian Miller make up the third row, and the fourth row is led by Alex Rins, the only Spanish rider in the top ten apart from Lorenzo and Márquez.

A disaster for Yamaha, with Valentino Rossi in twelfth place and Maverick Viñales in thirteenth. Neither the Italian nor the Spaniard are at a pace to challenge Márquez in any way, so with the championship firmly in the Spaniard’s favour, credit goes to Ducati’s resurgence, which is livening up the second half of the MotoGP world championship.

It is also worth noting that another Jorge, Martín, was the fastest in the Moto3 category, securing his seventh pole position of the season. We hope he is able to win tomorrow and take the lead, or at least narrow the gap to Bezzecchi. Meanwhile, in Moto2, pole position went to the category leader, Italian Pecco Bagnaia.