Record-breaking Rossi Pole and Double Movistar Yamaha Front Row in Mugello

Qualifying

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi made the crowds go wild as he grabbed pole position at the Autodromo del Mugello, setting a new circuit best lap.

Rossi waited for most of his rivals to leave pit lane before he made his way onto the track. His initial lap moved him into fourth place. He then improved his time but not his position on his second attempt, but was pushed back to fifth as his rivals upped their speed.

With seven and a half minutes of the session remaining, the Italian headed back to the pit box and was out one and a half minutes later. With 0.399s to the benchmark pole position, he knew what he had to do. Cheered on by the passionate Italian fans, the local hero completely went for it and pushed out four red sectors to clock a 1'46.208s. The lap was unbeatable for the rest of the MotoGP rider field, giving the fans' favourite his 65th career pole position, with a 0.035s margin. It's his first pole since the Japanese Grand Prix in 2016.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 1st – Time: 1’46.208 – Laps: 6

"It gave a great emotion, especially facing the crowd the lap after the pole was fantastic. It's great, because it's also a surprise. This year in qualifying I always suffered, but today the lap was great and I thought it would be enough for the front row, but in the end it was pole position. It's been a long time since I was on pole, so it's important and it's a great feeling. I think tomorrow will be more difficult, but for sure I'm enjoying this moment."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"An incredible second day at the Italian GP! Today the team really pulled together to get some strong results.  Vale couldn't have made his fans happier than by securing pole and setting the new circuit best lap at Mugello with an astounding 1'46.208s. It will make the atmosphere tomorrow, at the team's home GP, all the more special.  We expect the race to be full-on, because the level is high. Even though it won't be easy, we'll try to make further improvements tonight as we prepare the last fine-tuning for tomorrow's warm-up. We have to keep in mind that it will be colder and more humid in the morning, but we'll do our best to make a final step before the race."