MotoGP: Pole for Crutchlow at rainy Silverstone

Omnisports

September 3, 2016 1:21 AM

Fresh off the back of his first MotoGP win, Cal Crutchlow secured pole at his home grand prix at Silverstone on Saturday.

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Cal Crutchlow claimed the third pole position of his career as heavy rain blighted qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Fresh off his maiden MotoGP win in Brno last time out, the British rider produced a stunning lap in treacherous conditions to take top spot on Sunday's grid – his first pole since the Czech Grand Prix in 2013.

Crutchlow put together a lap of two minutes 19.265 seconds to finish top of the pile by 0.998secs from Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) and Maverick Vinales (Suzuki Ecstar).

While Crutchlow stayed out of trouble, the same could not be said for championship leader Marc Marquez as he crashed at turn one, the Spaniard having to settle for fifth place behind Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

"It's a nice feeling," said Crutchlow. "We're taking it as it comes, it's great for the team.

"We have to be careful, the race is tomorrow and we have a good pace in the dry."

Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo was first out in the heavy rain but he could not find the right setup to take advantage of Marquez's tumble, the reigning champion finishing nearly two and a half seconds behind Crutchlow in ninth.

Like Marquez, the day of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) ended with a big crash, as was the case for both qualifiers from Q1 – Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia) and Eugene Laverty (Aspar).

Miller was an early casualty in the slippy conditions, while Laverty looked on course for pole until he dramatically came off at turn 12.

Crutchlow will now look to turn pole into victory at his home Grand Prix on Sunday, although last year's winner Rossi showed he has the pace to challenge the LCR Honda rider.

Provisional classification: 1. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) 2:19.265secs 2. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) 2:20.263s 3. Maverick Vinales (Suzuki Ecstar) 2:20.514s 4. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 2:20.742s 5. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 2:20.779s 6. Eugene Laverty (Aspar) 2:20.821s 7. Scott Redding (Octo Pramac) 2:21.074s 8. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2:21.446s 9. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) 2:21.687s 10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2:22.420s

Omnisports

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