Lorenzo takes pole, Rossi struggles

MADRID: Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo secured his fourth pole position of the 2018 MotoGP season on Saturday by sneaking ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in qualifying at Aragon.

Lorenzo beat his Italian Ducati team-mate by 0.014sec while Honda’s Marc Marquez was 0.079sec back in third.

Marquez, who is chasing a fifth world championship title but is without a victory in his last four races, had set the pace with a time of 1.46.960sec.

But the Spaniard paid the price for a mistake at Turn 12 on his final run as Lorenzo and Dovizioso both saved their best times until last.

Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi managed to complete only one timed lap during the session. The Italian veteran qualified in a disappointing 18th, his lowest grid position since 2006. Britain’s Cal Crutchlow was pushed back into the second row after finishing fourth. He missed the chance to fight for a top-three spot after crashing out during his last lap.