Riding in front of his home crowd and with a special helmet to celebrate, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi brought cheers to the Autodromo del Mugello on Saturday as he took a sensational pole position, while Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Maverick Viñales grabbed the second spot on the grid ahead of Ducati's Andrea Iannone.
Highlights Valentino Rossi pulled off a great lap to set a record equalling 63rd GP pole position at his home grand prix in Mugello.
Read the full qualifying report
The polesetter talks "Qualifying is always difficult, but we followed the right strategy in the right moment of qualifying and I am very happy to start from first position, first of all for all the fans, but especially here it‘s so important that I ride in front."
More about Rossi's pole position
Tech Talk Can the transmission count more than horsepower at Mugello? motogp.com pit-lane reporter Dylan Gray explains how important are gear ratios for the Italian GP.
Watch the previous episodes of Tech Talk
Rossi's "Mugiallo" helmet Saturday at the Italian GP saw Valentino Rossi unveil the latest in a long line of Aldo Drudi-designed helmets for his home race.
Check out Rossi's previous Mugello helmets
Slow-mo Catch all the details with this spectacular slow motion footage, filmed during qualifying at the Italian GP.
Catch up with all the action from the #ItalianGP
In tow There was a fair bit of strategic riding in Qualifying, did Rossi learn a thing or two from Viñales?
Read how Viñales thought the session went