Dani Pedrosa has taken his maiden pole position for the MotoGP season this year, recording a record-breaking time in an exhilarating qualifying session at the Mugello circuit.

The current MotoGP series leader wasn’t setting the pace early on in the session as he struggled for a clean lap, but later in Q2 managed to set a record pole time of 1min 47.157secs.

Yamaha Factory rider Jorge Lorenzo set the pace early in Q2, but Pedrosa came from lower in the order to pip Lorenzo later in the session, pushing Lorenzo back to second.

Local rider Andrea Dovizioso impressed his fans by qualifying on the front row in third, despite having an injured neck.

After crashing out at turn 3 earlier in the session, Cal Crutchlow managed to get back on his bike and qualify on the second row in fourth, with Stefan Bradl and Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez rounding out the second row.

Valentino Rossi raised hopes for his home crowd running inside the top-three throughout Q2, but struggled towards the end of the session and qualified seventh.

The Italian MotoGP will begin at 7:00 PM tomorrow night on ONE HD.

Q2:

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 47.157s

2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 47.226s

3. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team 1m 47.628s

4. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 47.632s

5. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 47.737s

6. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 47.763s

7. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 47.872s

8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team 1m 48.006s

9. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1m 48.355s

10. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Test Team 1m 48.564s

11. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 48.706s

12. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar 1m 48.765s

Q1:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 48.524s

2. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 48.860s

3. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1m 49.265s

4. Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar 1m 49.266s

5. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens 1m 49.847s

6. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project 1m 50.518s

7. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing 1m 50.701s

8. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing 1m 50.729s

9. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport 1m 50.787s

10. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 51.089s

11. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport 1m 51.239s

12. Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1m 51.981s

13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia Blusens 1m 52.148s

14. Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project 1m 52.345s