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Pedrosa pips Marquez to Jerez MotoGP pole, heads up Honda 1-2-3

MotoGp of Spain - Qualifying

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN - MAY 06: Dani Pedrosa of Spain and Repsol Honda Team leads the field during the MotoGp of Spain - Qualifying at Circuito de Jerez on May 6, 2017 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images)

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Dani Pedrosa picked up his first pole position in MotoGP since the fall of 2015 on Saturday at Jerez, topping the timesheets in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Pedrosa edged out Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez by just 0.049 seconds in the final stages of qualifying to take a memorable pole position on home soil.

Pedrosa headed up a front-row lock-out for Honda, with satellite LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow finishing third.

The Spaniard will be chasing his first win of the season on Sunday as he looks to rise from sixth place in the riders’ championship, with Saturday’s success marking his first pole since the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales secured fourth place on the grid, finishing four-tenths of a second off Pedrosa, while Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone was fifth ahead of Tech3’s Johann Zarco.

MotoGP championship leader and nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi struggled to seventh in qualifying, and will start the race just ahead of former teammate and erstwhile rival Jorge Lorenzo, who took eighth for Ducati. Jonas Folger and Jack Miller rounded out the top 10.

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