Jorge Lorenzo stormed to a mixed condition pole position at Silverstone as the three-time MotoGP World Champion has well and truly recaptured the form of old.
A combination of rain and waiting for an air ambulance meant that the pole position shoot out was delayed by nearly an hour with Tito Rabat being transferred to a local hospital with a feared severely broken leg.
When the helicopter returned and the action on track started it was enough to warm up the fans that braved the elements at Silverstone.
After the first run of flying laps it was Q1s fastest man Bradley Smith with the fastest lap time although the KTM man’s time on the top of the standing was short lived as Jack Miller soon found himself fastest.
With the track drying it became a question if anybody would take a chance on slick tyres and it was ‘Jackass’ himself who decided to take the plunge.
As the session went on times continued to tumble and Lorenzo, Cal Crutchlow and Joann Zarco all went fastest with times dropping further. With under a minute remaining Andrea Dovizioso smashed the competition and went into the 2:10’s with a 2:10.314.
However, it was the other factory Ducati that would go on to claim the pole position. With the flag out, the Spaniard flew and managed to go a tenth and a half under his team-mate and claim the pole position with a 2:10.155.
Dovizioso’s time was good enough to keep him in second position and the front row was rounded out by the surprising figure of Johann Zarco. The Frenchman capitalised on the tow of Marquez to propel himself to third position.
Cal Crutchlow will start his home Grand Prix from fourth position. Marc Marquez and Danilo Petrucci who were fifth and sixth respectively will join Crutchlow on the second row.
Andrea Iannone will head the third row and the factory Suzuki man will be just ahead of Bradley Smith. The Brit will start what looks like being his final home Grand Prix for the foreseeable future in eighth just ahead of Miller whose slick gamble failed to pay off.
Second Q1 man Alex Rins will start from tenth and be joined by the thoroughly miserable factory Yamaha duo of Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi who will start from eleventh and twelfth respectively.
