Aleix Espargaro takes surprise pole in Catalunya

Spaniards took the top four spots in Q2 with Espargaro's time of one minute 40.546 seconds enough to beat Dani Pedrosa's previous record and take top spot.

Team-mate Maverick Vinales was 0.083secs back with the Movistar Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo a tenth of a second behind the leader.

Marc Marquez's Repsol Honda was fourth, 0.208s behind Espargaro, with Italian Andrea Dovizioso on his Ducati breaking the Spanish dominance in fifth.

Another Spaniard followed in Pedrosa on the other Honda and championship leader Valentino Rossi was seventh on the second Yamaha, 0.512s off the pace.

The British duo of Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda) followed, with Yonny Hernandez, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone rounding out the top 12.

Briton Scott Redding failed to make Q2 as he finished in 14th with Ireland's Eugene Laverty 22nd.