Lorenzo improved his record from 2016 on his first flying lap, beating Marquez’s previous best time – already the best of the weekend – by two and a half tenths.
The duo stayed first and second until the break in the middle of the session and both got back on track relatively early and started a fast lap with six minutes left on the clock.
Lorenzo didn’t improve, however, and then pitted when Marquez’s fierce exertion ended with a quick fall in the left-hand turn at Turn 15.
Marquez then sprinted back into the garage and got on his second bike four minutes before the session, but the Honda rider couldn’t improve on his previous time.
Lorenzo, on the other hand, managed to lower his benchmark by another tenth when the checkered flag fell and led the session with a best time of 1: 31.629 minutes.
Jack Miller was advancing to second place just as Marquez crashed, and the Pramac Ducati rider held onto the position to secure his second start of the season from the front row.
The front row is completed by Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales, who just left Lorenzo’s Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso behind on his final lap.
Marquez finished fifth, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), who also had an accident, and local hero Valentino Rossi’s second factory Yamaha.
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac) was the fourth Ducati in the top eight, while Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Alex Rins (Suzuki) finished ninth and tenth, ahead of the two riders who advanced from Q1, Dani Pedrosa and Franco Morbidelli .
Morbidelli decided to run a run to save tires and then couldn’t set a representative lap time when he crashed at Turn 4.
Honda drivers Pedrosa and Morbidelli made it through Q1 at the expense of Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone, who missed Q2 for the first time this season.
Iannone will start the race on Sunday 13th, ahead of Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro, whose own chances of making it into Q2 were over after a late fall at Turn 10.
World Superbike-bound Alvaro Bautista (Nieto Ducati) will be on the 15th grid position ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Bradley Smith (KTM).
Honda Wildcard Stefan Bradl finished 18th as Pol Espargaro, who returned from injury and qualified 20th on the second KTM.
Xavier Simeon, who drove the Ducati GP17 of the injured Tito Rabat, crashed at Turn 16 and will start 22nd, two places ahead of his fall colleague Karel Abraham.
MotoGP debutant Christophe Ponsson, who rode Simeon’s Avintia Ducati GP16, completed the order, his 1: 37.180s nearly five seconds off pace.
Qualification result
| Item | driver | team | bicycle | Time | gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | Ducati | 1m31,629s | – |
| 2 | Jack Miller | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m31.916s | 0.287s |
| 3 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m31.950s | 0.321s |
| 4th | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.003s | 0.374s |
| 5 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m32.016s | 0.387s |
| 6th | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m32.025s | 0.396s |
| 7th | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m32.028s | 0.399s |
| 8th | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.136s | 0.507s |
| 9 | Johann Zarco | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m32.250s | 0.621s |
| 10 | Alex kidneys | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m32,338s | 0.709s |
| 11 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m32.369s | 0.740s |
| 12th | Franco Morbidelli | MVDS-Honda | Honda | 1m32,454s | 0.825s |
| 13th | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m32.566s | 0.937s |
| 14th | Michele Pirro | Ducati | Ducati | 1m32.624s | 0.995s |
| fifteen | Alvaro Bautista | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m32,792s | 1.163s |
| 16 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m33,084s | 1.455s |
| 17th | Bradley Smith | KTM | KTM | 1m33.085s | 1.456s |
| 18th | Stefan Bradl | Honda | Honda | 1m33.361s | 1.732s |
| 19th | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m33.437s | 1.808s |
| 20th | Pol Espargaro | KTM | KTM | 1m33.502s | 1.873s |
| 21 | Scott Redding | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m33.572s | 1.943s |
| 22nd | Xavier Simeon | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m33.705s | 2.076s |
| 23 | Thomas Lüthi | MVDS-Honda | Honda | 1m33,755s | 2.126s |
| 24 | Karel Abraham | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m33.812s | 2.183s |
| 25th | Hafizh Syahrin | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m34.080s | 2.451s |
| 26th | Christophe Ponsson | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m37.180s | 5.551s |