2014 Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results | Espargaro Earns Pole

2014 Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results | Espargaro Earns Pole
NGM Forward Racing's Aleix Espargaro at Assen
2014 Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results | Espargaro Earns Pole
NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro at Assen

2014 Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results

This season’s top-running open-class ride, Aleix Epargaro earned his first-ever pole of MotoGP Friday during a rain-affected qualifying two session at the Assen TT circuit.

The Spaniard, who was quickest during Thursday’s free practice, took the pole with 1:38.789. The lap time at “The Cathedral” was over five seconds slower than the the FP4 practice time, which was led by Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez.

Joining the NGM Forward Racing rider on Saturday’s Assen TT MotoGP front row will be Marquez, who won the opening seven rounds of 2014, and the other Repsol Honda RC213V pilot, Dani Pedrosa.

When qualifying 2 began, a bunch of riders were grouped up front at the track that caters to Yamaha’s, including Marquez, Pedrosa and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi, who led the third free practice session.

But light rain began falling, and Espargaro was able to ride the best, taking the pole by 1.40.194 seconds ahead of Marquez, and 1.943 seconds ahead of Pedrosa.

The top-qualifying Ducati was the Pramac Racing GP14 machine piloted Andrea Iannone. He qualified ahead of Ducati Team’s Cal Crutchlow, who was able to progress in qualifying 2 from the first session, and Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith.

Heading up the third row is Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, who qualified ahead of LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo.

Qualifying on the fourth row are three riders who were all over four seconds of Espargaro’s pole time – GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, Monster Yamaha Tech3 Yamaha’s Pol Espargaro and nine-time World Champion Rossi.

Several riders even switched to wet tires before the end of the session as the rain got heavier, but fortunately there were no crashes despite the tricky conditions, MotoGP reports.

As for the Americans, NGM Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards qualified 18th, and Drive My Aspar’s Nicky Hayden 22nd.

Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the Assen TT MotoGP live with coverage beginning at 7 a.m. ET Saturday, June 28. The coverage will also feature a reply of the Catalunya GP.

2014 Assen TT MotoGP Qualifying Results:

1. 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 298.5 1’38.789
2. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 289.0 1’40.194 1.405 / 1.405
3. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 301.5 1’40.732 1.943 / 0.538
4. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 289.7 1’40.786 1.997 / 0.054
5. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati 290.8 1’40.796 2.007 / 0.010
6. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 296.0 1’40.818 2.029 / 0.022
7. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 296.1 1’41.140 2.351 / 0.322
8. 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 276.9 1’41.982 3.193 / 0.842
9. 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 297.1 1’42.259 3.470 / 0.277
10. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 289.1 1’42.884 4.095 / 0.625
11. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 299.7 1’43.085 4.296 / 0.201
12. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 298.9 1’43.625 4.836 / 0.540
13. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 294.1 1’34.907 0.633 / 0.309
14. 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda 296.9 1’34.930 0.656 / 0.023
15. 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 303.2 1’35.056 0.782 / 0.126
16. 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 292.6 1’35.059 0.785 / 0.003
17. 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo IodaRacing Team ART 288.6 1’35.346 1.072 / 0.287
18. 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 297.2 1’35.484 1.210 / 0.138
19. 23 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 288.0 1’35.513 1.239 / 0.029
20. 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Avintia 294.5 1’35.631 1.357 / 0.118
21. 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 294.3 1’35.731 1.457 / 0.100
22. 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Drive M7 Aspar Honda 293.9 1’35.792 1.518 / 0.061
23. 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Avintia 290.7 1’35.980 1.706 / 0.188

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