MotoGP 2017 – Round Four – Jerez
Jerez MotoGP Sunday Race Day Guide from official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
- Dani Pedrosa starts from pole for the first time since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2015 and from the front row for the first time since Catalunya last year. The only time that Pedrosa has failed to get on the podium from his ten MotoGP starts at Jerez was when he finished fourth last year. Pedrosa will be aiming for a first win on Spanish soil since he won at Jerez in 2013.
- Marc Marquez starts from second place on the grid, which continues his record of qualifying on the front row at every race in 2017. Marquez has finished on the podium in all four of his appearances at Jerez in the MotoGP class.
- Cal Crutchlow starts from the front row at Jerez for the first time and he will be aiming to finish on the podium at this circuit for the first time.
- This is the first all-Honda front row since the German GP at the Sachsenring in 2014 when Marquez was on pole from Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl.
- Heading the second row is Maverick Viñales, whose Moto3 race win in 2013 is his only podium finish at the Jerez circuit.
- Andrea Iannone is in fifth place on the grid and he will be aiming for a first top six finish since joining Suzuki.
- Johann Zarco starts from sixth place on the grid and is the best qualifying rookie for the third time in 2017.
- Valentino Rossi, the winner from pole last year at Jerez, has qualified at the head of the third row. That is his worst grid position at Jerez since he was riding a Ducati in 2012. Rossi has gone fourteen races without a win, which is a sequence stretching back to the Catalunya round.
- The highest placed Ducati rider on the grid is Jorge Lorenzo in the middle of the third row. It is the first time since 2005, when he was racing in the 250cc class, that he has failed to get on the front row at Jerez.
- In ninth place on the grid is Jonas Folger, who has finished on the podium at Jerez in the smaller classes on five occasions, including a Moto2 win in 2015.
- Jack Miller is in 10th place on the grid, which is his best result in a fully dry qualifying session.
Moto2
- Álex Márquez has qualified on pole position for the first time in the Moto2 class. He is the ninth Spanish rider and the 57th in total to start from pole position in Moto2 since the introduction of the category in 2010. He will be aiming to win his first race in Moto2.
- Franco Morbidelli will start from second on the grid. This is his sixth successive front row start and he will be aiming to become the first rider to win the opening four intermediate category races of a season since Daijiro Kato in 2001.
- Dominique Aegerter’s third place on the grid is the best qualifying result for Suter this year and its first front row start since 2014. With Tom Lüthi and Simone Corsi, he is the only rider currently competing in Moto2 who has stood on the podium in the class in Jerez.
- Miguel Oliveira will head the second row, which is his best qualifying result since he qualified on pole in Argentina.
- Mattia Pasini will start from fifth on the grid and will be aiming to win his first Moto2 race. His best result in Jerez in the intermediate category is a second place back in 2008 in the 250cc race.
- Francesco Bagnaia has qualified in sixth position, which is his best qualifying result in his rookie season.
- Tom Lüthi, who is currently second in the World Championship, will start from 12th on the grid, which is his worst qualifying result since Sachsenring last year.
Moto3
- Jorge Martín has qualified on pole position for the second time in his career. This is the 34th pole position for a Spanish rider in Moto3and he will be aiming to win his first race.
- Arón Canet will start from second on the grid and after his pole in Austin he has scored back-to-back front row starts for the first time.
- Romano Fenati will is in third place on the grid, which equals his best qualifying result this year. He has won two times in the past in Jerez (2012 and 2014) and can also become the first Moto3 rider to win three races on the same track. With eight wins, he can tie Luis Salom’s record of nine victories.
- For the second race in succession, Honda has taken all the places on the front row of the grid. It is the first the Japanese manufacturer has achieved this in the Moto3 class.
- Heading the second row is Nicolò Bulega, who was on pole last year and crossed the line in second, which is his best result so far in his GP career.
- Marcos Ramirez will start from fifth, which is his best qualifying result in 14 starts.
- Tatsuki Suzuki will head the third row, which is his best qualifying result and the best for a Japanese rider since Hiroki Ono qualified in third at Valencia last year.
- John McPhee has qualified in 26th (and will start from 25th as Philipp Öttl is unfit), which is his worst qualifying result since Misano last year.
