Viñales grabs pole position for Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix

Spanish Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales has snagged pole position for the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix.

Viñales clocked a best-lap time of one minute and 47.635 seconds at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragon circuit, just 0.1 seconds ahead of compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) in Saturday's second round of qualifying, reports Efe news agency.

Viñales' Italian teammate Valentino Rossi, who has bounced back impressively after breaking his leg in a motocross accident 23 days ago, finished third with 1:47.815 seconds and will also be on the front row at the start of Sunday's race.

Spanish defending champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), meanwhile, missed out on what would have been his fifth consecutive pole position at the Aragon MotoGP when he crashed toward the end of Q2.

He had to settle for fifth and a spot on the second row along with the United Kingdom's Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Spain's Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

Italian Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso finished seventh in qualifying.

Marquez and Dovizioso are tied atop the 2017 riders' standings with 199 points apiece, 16 points ahead of Viñales with five races remaining in the season.

--IANS

sam/mr