MotoGP Qatar: Dovizioso beats Honda riders to take surprise pole

Amid fears of another MotoGP season of Honda domination in the premier class of motorcycle racing, Andrea Dovizioso put his Ducati on pole position

Andrea Dovizioso\'s surprise pole position was his second for Ducati since joining the Italian manufacturer in 2013. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport Media)

Dani Pedrosa lead the charge for the factory Honda team in qualifying, even managing to best reigning double world champion Marc Marquez. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport Media)

Like last year\'s Qatar GP, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi had a difficult qualifying session but will be aiming to have a strong race. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport Media)

Amid fears of another MotoGP season of Honda domination in the premier class of motorcycle racing, Andrea Dovizioso put his Ducati on pole position for Qatar Grand Prix at Losail International Circuit on Saturday.

The Italian brand has invested significant amount of resources in developing their 2015 MotoGP bike in a bid to get back to the top like they were in 2007 and parts of 2008 when Casey Stoner won a title and challenged Yamaha's Valentino Rossi for the crown. And while Ducati’s pace on a single lap is encouraging, there’s no guarantee that the team would be able to hold on to the lead in tomorrow’s race.

The biggest threat will come from the two Honda riders who start alongside Dovizioso on the front of the grid. However, it wasn’t defending double world champion Marc Marquez who led the charge for Honda. Instead, it was an underrated Dani Pedrosa who qualified ahead of his Spanish teammate in second place.

Behind the trio, Andrea Iannone qualified in fourth place to underline the improvements Ducati have made over the winter while Yonny Hernandez brought more delight for the Italian manufacturer in a customer Ducati.

The factory Yamaha riders could only manage sixth and eighth places in today’s qualifying session with Jorge Lorenzo leading seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi.

Bradley Smith and Danilo Petrucci progressed from Q1 and will line up in seventh and ninth places respectively ahead of Pol Espargaro who completes the top 10.

Meanwhile, Suzuki’s much hyped return to MotoGP didn’t go down as well as expected with Aleix Espargaro qualifying ninth and Moto2 graduate just missing out of Q2 in 13th place.

MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix - Qualifying results(Top 10)

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1m54.113s
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1m 54.330s +0.217s
Marc Marquez (Honda) 1m 54.437s
Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1m 54.521s +0.408s
Yonny Hernandez (Pramac Racing) 1m 54.675s +0.562s
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1m 54.711s +0.598s
Bradley Smith (Yamaha Tech 3) 1m 54.732s +0.619s
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1m 54.851s +0.738s
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) 1m 54.876s +0.763s
Pol Espargaro (Yamaha Tech 3) 1m55.004s +0.891s

Moto2: Lowes takes pole after practice sweepover

After topping each of the three practice sessions, Speed Up rider Sam Lowes took pole position in the Moto2 class under the floodlights of Losail International Circuit on Saturday.

His laptime of 1:59.423 was so impressive that even after he crashed at turn 4 with three minutes left in the session, no would come within three tenths of it.

This includes Johann Zaro’s customer Kalex and defending Moto2 world champion Tito Rabat who join the British rider on the front row in second and third places respectively.

Moto3: Masbou prevails in a tight battle for pole

Earlier in Moto3, Alexis Masbou took his first pole position in what a tight qualifying session with top 17 riders separated by just one second.

Last year’s Czech Republic Moto3 winner took full advantage of slipstream to lap the circuit in 2:06.170s - enough to pip Husqvarna's Isaac Vinales and Niccolo Antonelli’s Ongetta.

Francesco Bagnaisa wasn’t far behind the trio astride a customer Mahindra in fourth position and will be joined by two customer riders on the second row of the grid.