MotoGP championship leader Dani Pedrosa put Honda on pole position at the Italian GP and knocked fellow-Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo off the top slot in the final seconds of qualifying yesterday.
Italian Andrea Dovizioso completed the front row for Ducati at the Mugello circuit despite needing painkillers after hurting his neck in a crash on Friday.
Pedrosa’s pole, with a time of one minute 47.157 seconds, was his first of the season and came right at the end of the session when he was only seventh on the timesheets as he started his final lap.
His time was 0.069 quicker than double world champion Lorenzo’s best.
Italian great Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo’s team-mate, qualified seventh, one place behind Honda’s Marc Marquez.
Spanish rookie Marquez, who has finished on the podium in every race so far this season, crashed in all three practice sessions and cracked the top of his humerus near his right shoulder.
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who finished second in France two weeks ago with a broken leg, qualified fourth for Tech3 Yamaha. Compatriot and team-mate Bradley Smith, who suffered a fracture to his left wrist on Friday, starts 11th.
Injured American Ben Spies earlier abandoned an attempted return with his Pramac Ducati MotoGP team after being in too much pain to practice.
Spies injured his shoulder in Malaysia last October, missing the last two races of 2012 and initial pre-season testing. He reported muscle pain at last month’s race in Texas and was absent for the Spanish and French Grands Prix.
The Tennessee-born former world superbike champion took part in Friday practice at Mugello but the team said the problems had not been resolved.
“Unfortunately the free practice sessions highlighted the muscular problems still afflicting Ben Spies,” they said in a statement.
The team said the rider would have further medical checks this week. Spies was replaced on the non-works bike by Ducati’s official test rider Michele Pirro in France but that option is not available at Mugello because the Italian is already entered as a wild card.