MONTMELO, Spain — Aleix Espargaro gave Suzuki its first pole position since 2007 and Maverick Vinales completed the team's surprise 1-2 finish in Saturday's qualifying session for the Catalonia Moto Grand Prix. Espargaro earned his second career pole in the top category after setting a track record lap of 1 minute, 40.546 seconds at the 4.7-km Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. "I'm very happy with the pole, but my hope is to be on the podium tomorrow," the 25-year-old Catalan said. "I didn't have any expectations of doing this on my home track with its long straightaway, but the truth is that the bike adapted perfectly to the track." Chris Vermeulen claimed the last MotoGP pole for Suzuki at Assen in 2007. Vinales was 0.083 seconds slower than Espargaro, followed by Jorge Lorenzo on his Yamaha in third. Two-time defending champion Marc Marquez starts Sunday's race for Honda from fourth, while points leader Valentino Rossi is seventh. Karel Abraham will miss the race after dislocating his left big toe in a crash during practice earlier on Saturday. Ideal track conditions and high temperatures helped riders set records in the lower classes. In Moto2, points leader Johann Zarco won pole position with a track record 1:45.895. Jonas Folger and Tito Rabat were next. Earlier, Enea Bastianini set a record for the Moto3 class with a lap of 1:50.137 on his way to earning his first career pole. The 17-year-old Italian was followed by points leader Danny Kent in second. — AP
