Cal Crutchlow has become the first British MotoGP pole-sitter since Jeremy McWilliams at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.
Clinching the top spot at the end of a drama-filled qualifying session for the Iveco TT Assen, Crutchlow was delighted with the result but admitted that he would have preferred for World Champion Jorge Lorenzo to be on-track; the Yamaha Factory Racing rider missed qualifying after breaking his collarbone on Thursday.Its good, Crutchlow declared. Im obviously pleased with the qualifying position but, for me, its not a true pole. Jorge wasnt here and I would have liked to have a sort of dogfight with him. Hopefully we will be able to do that when he returns - and maybe for a race win later in the year. Im pleased, we did a good job.We were really struggling this weekend and I wasnt at all happy in Free Practice 4. If we can make the bike a little calmer and more towards our setting, theres no reason why we couldnt be able to be faster again. Im looking forward to the race tomorrow, congratulations to the guys on the front row and well see what we can do.Crutchlow is yet to finish outside the top five in 2013, with the exception of the Barcelona in which he crashed. He was on the podium at both Le Mans and Mugello.
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider will share the front row with Repsol Honda Teams Marc Marquez and LCR Honda MotoGPs Stefan Bradl. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo missed qualifying following his crash on Thursday. truly dramatic qualifying session for the 65th World Championship Dutch TT concluded with several riders grabbing provisional pole position, only to be demoted by their rivals just moments later. Rain had fallen earlier in the day but would not disrupt the grid-deciding period.Yamaha Factory Racings Valentino Rossi, Bradl and Marquez all provisionally held the top spot before Crutchlow delivered the pole time of 134.398 to become the first British MotoGP pole-sitter since Jeremy McWilliams at Phillip Island in 2002. Behind him, Marquez qualifies in the top three for the first time since Le Mans and 2011 Moto2 title winner Bradl seals his first front row start in the premier class. Hondas Dani Pedrosa had looked likely to collect his third consecutive pole, but crashed at De Bult with six and a half minutes remaining and would tumble to fifth.Rossi qualifies fourth which is his best of the year so far, whereas Tech 3s Bradley Smith will line up behind Pedrosa in sixth - his best grid position to date. The third row will be headed up by Power Electronics Aspars Aleix Espargaro who has further raised the bar as the best ever CRT qualifier. It was also a positive day for teammate Randy de Puniet, who was quickest in Q1 and will start ninth.Q1 was also full of surprises. Andrea Iannone crashed his Energy T.I. Pramac Racing machine when challenging for a place in the shootout, which leaves him 13th on the grid. Two places further back, Ducati Teams Andrea Dovizioso could manage no more than 15th which is his worst grid position since joining the top class in 2008. The field is completed by Ivan Silva, back on the grid with Avintia Blusens as substitute to Hiroshi Aoyama who picked up hand injuries at the last round in Barcelona.
