Montmel, Spain - Dani Pedrosa claimed pole position for Sunday's Catalan MotoGP after a qualifying session to forget for leading championship contenders Maverick Vinales, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez on Saturday (June 10).
Pedrosa banked his second pole of the season with a best time of 1min43.870 to start ahead of Ducati pair Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci on the front row.
Marquez remarkably managed the fourth best time despite crashing twice in qualifying and four times overall on Saturday as the Spaniard struggled for grip on the modified Montmelo circuit following Luis Salom's fatal crash in last year's Moto2 race.
Championship leader Vinales starts down in ninth after having to edge out Yamaha teammate Rossi by fourth hundredths of a second just to qualify for the second session.
That left Rossi 13th fastest as he continues to battle back from chest and stomach injuries that saw him hospitalised in a motocross training accident in May.