Jorge Lorenzo continued his recent upturn in form by taking pole position at the Catalan Grand Prix, where Marc Marquez joins him on the front row.
Lorenzo celebrated a belated first MotoGP win with Ducati in Italy last time out by finalising a switch to join Marquez at Repsol Honda next season.
Advertisement
But the 31-year-old, who is expected to be a serious challenger to Marquez's throne in 2019, is already showing his talent in this campaign, securing pole in Barcelona despite a less than smooth operation.
Lorenzo was visibly furious as he entered the pit at one stage, later suggesting there had been an issue with his front tyre.
A time of one minute 38.680 second was still enough to qualify fastest and take a first pole since 2016, but Marquez's second-place start is perhaps more impressive after he was forced to come through a difficult first qualifying session.
The reigning champion crashed in the final practice session and endured a couple of further wobbles, meaning he missed out on an automatic Q2 place for the first time since 2015.
Marquez came through with a time of 1:39.217 and then pushed Lorenzo all the way, pipping title rival Andrea Dovizioso to second place.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) 1:38.680
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 1:38.746
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1:38.923
4. Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) 1:39.145
5. Andrea Iannone (Suzuki Ecstar) 1:39.148
6. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac) 1:39.178
7. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) 1:39.266
8. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 1:39.331
9. Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia) 1:39.504
10. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) 1:39.556
11. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1:39.695
12. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) 1:39.888
13. J. Miller (Ducati) 1:39.732
14. H. Syahrin (Yamaha) 1:39.879
15. Á. Rins (Suzuki) 1:39.918
16. A. Espargaró (Aprilia) 1:40.010
17. B. Smith (KTM) 1:40.019
18. F. Morbidelli (Honda) 1:40.058
19. P. Espargaró (KTM) 1:40.178
20. S. Redding (Aprilia) 1:40.300
21. K. Abraham (Ducati) 1:40.449
22. Á. Bautista (Ducati) 1:40.524
23. M. Kallio (KTM) 1:40.572
24. T. Lüthi (Honda) 1:40.590
25. S. Guintoli (Suzuki) 1:40.834
26. X. Siméon (Ducati) 1:41.369
