LUCO DI MUGELLO, Italy - Italian rider Andrea Iannone will start from pole for the first time in his MotoGP career for the 2015 Italian MotoGP on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Ducati rider who rode with a dislocated shoulder in the previous race in France a fortnight earlier, posted the fastest time in qualifying at Mugello on Saturday (May 30 2015) to record his ninth career pole spot in all categories.
ROSSI STILL LEADS LOG
Spain's double MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, bidding for a third successive 2015 season win, will start second and Iannone's team mate and compatriot Andrea Dovizioso third.
Another Italian, legend Valentino Rossi is leading the overall standings.
Current MotoGP champion, Marc Marquez, failed to finish in the top 10.
Astoundingly, the top nine riders were all covered by less than a half-second.
DUCATI SANDWICH
Reuters reports that the Italian's lap-record time of 1min46.489 was all the more impressive after he revealed this past week that he had raced at the French MotoGP with a fractured left arm and a dislocated shoulder.
MotoGP's overall championship leader and home hero Valentino Rossi qualified eighth with Spanish team mate Jorge Lorenzo sandwiched between the two Ducatis of Iannone and Italian Andrea Dovizioso on the front row.
Lorenzo will still fancy his chances of a third win in a row, however.
The pole was Ducati's first at Mugello since Australian Casey Stoner in 2007 and the top 11 qualifiers were all inside the previous track record time.
MotoGP qualification
1 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 1min46.489
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 1min46.584
3 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 1min46.610
4 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Honda 1min46.657
5 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Suzuki 1min46.854
6 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati 1min46.870
7 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1min46.875
8 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 1min46.923
9 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Suzuki 1min46.934
10 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 1min47.050
Moto3 qualification
1 Danny Kent (Britain) Honda 1min56.615
2 Hiroki Ono (Japan) Honda 1min56.904
3 Romano Fenati (Italy) KTM 1min57.319
4 Karel Hanika (Czech Republic) KTM 1min57.329
5 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda 1min57.333
6 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) KTM 1min57.366
7 Enea Bastianini (Italy) Honda 1min57.393
8 Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) Mahindra 1min57.529
9 Andrea Locatelli (Italy) Honda 1min57.551
10 Isaac Vinales (Spain) Husqvarna 1min57.647
Moto2 qualification
1 Sam Lowes (Britain) Speed up 1min51.514
2 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Kalex 1min51.856
3 Tito Rabat (Spain) Kalex 1min51.874
4 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Kalex 1min51.879
5 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex 1min52.120
6 Johann Zarco (France) Kalex 1min52.140
7 Simone Corsi (Italy) Kalex 1min52.144
8 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 1min52.155
9 Alex Rins (Spain) Kalex 1min52.240
10 Axel Pons (Spain) Kalex 1min52.327