Andrea Dovizioso takes Qatar pole for resurgent Ducati
Last Updated: 29/03/15 10:28am
Andrea Dovizioso put resurgent Ducati on pole for MotoGP's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix under the floodlights on Saturday.
The Italian seized only his third career pole in 125 attempts with his final lap in the dying seconds to dislodge Dani Pedrosa from the top of the time sheets.
Double world champion Marc Marquez will start behind Honda team-mate Pedrosa after having to settle for third best.
Ducati have not won in MotoGP since 2010 but are competing this season in the 'open' category which allows them softer tyres in qualifying than factory rivals as well as other advantages.
"I am very happy because the pole today is the result of a group effort: after two yars in which we have suffered, we finally managed to achieve a competitive motorbike," said Dovizioso.
"I honestly did not think we would have been so fast right away with the GP15."
Dovizioso's best time of one minute 54.113 seconds was 0.217 quicker than Spaniard Pedrosa and beat last year's winner Marquez by 0.324.
"The most important is that we got the target which was the front row," said Marquez who took pole last year.
"Of course I expected a little bit more but I made a few mistakes, maybe I pushed too much.
"But anyway the most important thing is that for tomorrow we have a good pace, we will try to enjoy the race and it will be really interesting."
Three of the top five places went to Ducati riders, with Italian Andrea Iannone qualifying fourth and Colombian Yonny Hernandez fifth for the non-works Pramac Racing team.
Britain's Cal Crutchlow, a strong second to Marquez in practice on Friday, crashed out of the pole session and qualified 12th for his LCR Honda team.
