Ajo Motorsport rider achieves fourth pole position of the season and will start from the front row for the ninth time in 2016.

Johann Zarco claimed his fourth pole of the season at the San Marino Grand Prix this Saturday. The Ajo Motorsport rider will start from the top spot on the starting grid after a qualifying session that he dominated from the start, with his best lap a 1:37.436. His spectacular pace throughout the day makes him optimistic for Sunday.

The Frenchman started Saturday as he had ended Friday. The strategy used was the same as in yesterday’s final practice session: Extensive laps with used tyres. Over the 19 laps he completed in FP3, Zarco set a great pace in the low 1:38s -putting in almost identical laps on 7 occasions. His thirteenth lap, a 1:38.076, gave him third place and lowered his best time from Friday.

In the qualifying session, the Ajo Motorsport rider was always at the top of the standings, clocking his best time on his sixth lap just before a long pit stop. The reigning Moto2 World Champion continued riding in the 1:37 range when he reemerged, and nobody was able to stop Zarco from taking his third pole position at Misano (2011, 2015 and 2016).
Tomorrow’s race starts at 12:20pm local time. Johann Zarco will try to make up for disappointments in the last two races at Brno and Silverstone, and repeat the win he took at last year’s San Marino GP.

Results – Qualifying Practice
1. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 1:37.436
2. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 1:37.509 +0.073
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) 1:37.550 +0.114
4. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:37.777 +0.341
5. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 1:37.861 +0.425

5 JOHANN ZARCO

“The qualifying session was very good. We have worked on our race pace all weekend with the team, and when it was time to set a good time in qualifying we succeeded. We were fast right from the first stint, and that was actually when I set my best time. We tried to improve later, but I could not lower my time. I’m happy with the 1:37.4. Tomorrow the goal is to go all out and try to escape, as we have a good enough pace to be at the front. If that is not possible, we will have to fight hard with other riders to get there.”