Is the Suzuki MotoGP bike the best handling machine in the paddock? Aleix Espargaro seems to think so, but Suzuki is woefully down on horsepower compared to its competitors.
Nevertheless, with Marc Marquez (Honda) taking his usual spot on top of the time sheets, Espargaro qualified second quickest ahead of the Ducati of Andrea Iannone.
The factory Yamahas of Lorenzo and Rossi qualified in uncharacteristically poor positions, with Lorenzo 5th and Rossi 8th.
Interestingly, during the race Ducati may actually have a disadvantage when it comes to tires this weekend. While the full factory bikes have access to an extra hard rear tire recently developed by Bridgestone, Ducati and others must make due with the regular hard tire on a track notorious for destroying tires.
Stay tuned for race results. Here are the top 12 from Q2:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1’37.802 | |
| 2 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1’38.316 | 0.514 / 0.514 |
| 3 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1’38.467 | 0.665 / 0.151 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | CWM LCR Honda | Honda | 1’38.485 | 0.683 / 0.018 |
| 5 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’38.485 | 0.683 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1’38.520 | 0.718 / 0.035 |
| 7 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1’38.786 | 0.984 / 0.266 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’38.890 | 1.088 / 0.104 |
| 9 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1’39.187 | 1.385 / 0.297 |
| 10 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1’39.197 | 1.395 / 0.010 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott REDDING | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 1’39.380 | 1.578 / 0.183 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1’40.526 | 2.724 / 1.146 |
You wankers! Spoiler posts are supposed to go on the “race results” article, not qualifying! Fark! Good form, mickey! When your post came through my feed, I was giddy with anticipation to get home this evening and put the race on. Then I saw carl’s post and had to cuss.
Oh, well, I am sure it will still be great to watch.
Wow, what a fantastic race! Age and treachery overcomes youthful “bin it or win it” speed. GREAT!
Valentino freaking ROSSI!
WOW what a race and Rossi takes it!
WOW..that will give us something to talk about next week lol
I wonder if Honda is becoming worried at the difficulty their customers are having being competitive. If something happens to Marquez they can’t even comfortably bet on top-10 results.
Wanker.
Sincerely,
Cal Crutchlow
Sorry.
Sincerely,
Lorenzo
Rossi
Dovizio
Iannone
Smith
Espargaro (x2)
Via’les
Petricci
Hate the way Rossi always qualifies so poorly, handicapping himself right from the start. Don’t know why he often seems to get balked by traffic during qualifying while Jorge, Dovi, and the Repsol riders rarely seem to encounter similar difficulties. If Rossi could just qualify half as well as he races, he’d be downright scary.
As to the Suzuki possibly being the best handling bike in the paddock, I believe Rob Muzzy might have a thought or two in explanation.
sure makes his job that much harder doesn’t it?
A Suzuki on the front row 3rd race back into the game. How cool is that? Suzuki Motor Corp has to be ecstatic, and 4 mfgs in the top five starting spots is great for MotoGP and for the fans.
race starts in an hour. I will be watching!
Thanks Mickey , read your post and caught the last 3 laps , ..great race