MotoGP Catalunya Race Day Guide
- Dani Pedrosa starts on pole for the first time since he was on pole at the Grand Prix of Catalunya last year. Pedrosa has not won from pole position since the final race of 2012 in Valencia and if he wins the race it will be the first time that a Honda rider has won in the MotoGP class from pole at the Catalunya circuit. Pedrosa will be aiming to win at home in Catalunya for the first time since 2008.
- Jorge Lorenzo has qualified in second place on the grid, his fourth front row start of 2014. Lorenzo has won three times and finished second twice in the last five years at the Catalan GP.
- Marc Marquez is in third place on the grid, ending a run of seven successive pole positions. Marquez is aiming to become just the second rider, after Valentino Rossi, to win seven successive MotoGP races since the category was introduced in 2002 as the premier-class of grand prix racing.
- Heading the second row is Stefan Bradl, the winner of the Moto2 race at the Catalan GP in 2011.
- In fifth place on the grid is Valentino Rossi, who has had six victories in the premier-class at the Catalan GP, the last of which was in 2009. Rossi has scored points at the last nineteen races, a sequence that started with fourth place in Catalunya last year.
- Aleix Espargaro is in sixth place on the grid, the fourth time this year he has started from the second row.
- Heading the third row of the grid is Andrea Dovizioso, the highest placed Ducati rider. Last year at the Catalan GP he was the first Ducati rider across the finish line in 7th.
- Bradley Smith, who is in the middle of the third row, finished 6th last year in Catalunya equalling his best result of 2013.
- Yonny Hernandez is in ninth place on the grid, which is his best ever qualifying result in the MotoGP class.
- If any of the Honda riders win in Catalunya it will be the 100th victory for Honda in the four- stroke MotoGP class since it was introduced in 2002.
Moto2
- Tito Rabat starts from pole for the fifth time this year. This is the seventh pole of his Moto2 career and from his previous six pole position starts he has taken five wins and a second place.
- In second place on the grid is Mika Kallio, whose only podium finish at the Catalunya circuit was back in 2005 in the 125cc class when he finished third.
- Maverick Viñales has qualified in third place on the grid, his first front row start in his rookie year in the Moto2 class. Viñales won the Moto3 race at Catalunya two years ago.
- Sandro Cortese, who heads the second row of the grid, will be aiming to improve on his previous best race result since moving up to the Moto2 class, which is seventh in the opening race of this year in Qatar.
- In fifth place on the grid is Jonas Folger, who did not race at the Catalan GP last year due a wrist injury suffered in a motocross accident in the week leading up to the race.
- Mattia Pasini is in sixth place on the grid, which equals his best ever qualifying result in the Moto2 class at Indianapolis in 2011.
- With Kalex riders taking the first six places on the grid, the highest place Suter rider is Thomas Luthi at the head of the third row. Luthi has been on the podium three times in the last four years in the Moto2 class in Catalunya.
Moto3
- Alex Marquez, who is making his 35th grand prix start, has qualified on pole for the first time. He will be aiming to take his second Moto3 win – his first win was in Motegi last year.
- In second place on the grid is grand prix rookie Enea Bastianini, which is a great improvement on his previous best qualifying, 13th place on the grid at Le Mans.
- Alex Rins is in third place on the grid, which is his fourth successive front row start. Rins finished second in the Moto3 race at Catalunya last year, just two tenths of a second behind the winner Luis Salom.
- Brad Binder is in fourth place on the grid, equalling his best ever grand prix qualifying result that he achieved at Jerez last year. This is the best qualifying result of 2014 for Mahindra.
- Niklas Ajo starts from fifth place on the grid, equalling his best ever qualifying result in grand prix racing.
- Taking the final spot on the second row is Isaac Viñales, who has finished on the podium at the last two races having not been on the podium at the first 41 races of his GP career.
- Championship leader Jack Miller is in 9th place on the grid, the first time this year that he has not been on the front row.
