Maverick Viñales Takes Perfect Pole in Misano

Qualifying

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP will start the Tribul Mastercard GP S.Marino e Riviera di Rimini - the team's second home race of the season - from pole position, after a superb performance from Maverick Viñales in this afternoon's qualifying session.

Viñales was the last rider to leave pit lane at the start of the 15-minute shoot-out, knowing that the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is relatively short and that he would have enough time to set a fast lap. However, once on his way, he didn't waste a minute to make his mark. He immediately put his YZR-M1 on top with a 1'33.408s lap.

The Spaniard was temporarily pushed back to second place shortly after completing his first flying lap, but the 22-year-old was not having it. He improved to a 1'32.833s to reclaim provisional pole. Nevertheless, the battle for pole was far from over.

Once again the young gun dropped to second position, with less than eight and a half minutes to go. This time, Viñales couldn't retaliate straight away, though he improved his best lap to a 1'32.652s, and returned to the box with six minutes remaining.

One and a half minutes later, he was back out on track, eager to close the 0.016s margin to the man in first. He was unsuccessful on the first flying lap of his second run, but the number 25 rider had time for two more tries. Now in third place, he made the next attempt count, setting a personal best first sector and all red sectors in the last three parts of the track to post a magnificent 1'32.439s for pole. He held the top spot until the flag came out, with a gap of 0.162s to his closest rival, and will start tomorrow's race from the front of the grid.

Maverick Viñales

Position: 1st - Time: 1'32.439 - Laps: 9

"The qualifying went really well. I was feeling great on the bike, the team did a really good job! Yesterday and especially this afternoon we modified the bike a little bit and I was feeling better, so for tomorrow the strategy will be to try and stay consistent, keep the tyres on a good temperature - it's important not to have cold tyres, especially on the first laps. I'm going to start from first and try to ride at my own pace. I'm happy with how things are going and let's see what will happen tomorrow. I'm confident that we can do a great race. For sure there are many riders who can be contenders. For tomorrow, we will have to try to make another step, if we want to win this race."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"Today was very productive for us and it shows in the results - what an amazing 1'32.439s lap by Maverick! It was well deserved, as Maverick and the team did a brilliant job yesterday and today and have shown great speed throughout each session. He is improving every time he heads out on track, and to take pole at the team's second home Grand Prix of the season - for the first time since Mugello - is perfect. However, tomorrow's race will be long and chances are that the conditions will be very different from what we had on track today. We will have to keep an open mind at the start of the warm up tomorrow and adapt to whatever the weather may bring."