MotoGP: Alex Marquez grabs pole ahead of Quartararo and Marc Marquez
MotoGP: Alex Marquez grabs pole ahead of Quartararo and Marc Marquez, Bagnaia P21 in Barcelona.
MotoGP: Alex Marquez grabs pole ahead of Quartararo and Marc Marquez, Bagnaia P21 in Barcelona.
Two blue machines sit ahead of the red of Marc Marquez following a brilliant Q2 in Barcelona.
How about that for a qualifying session? Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) clinched pole position at the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia with a simply stunning new all-time lap record. The #73’s final sector was mega as his 1:37.536 was plenty good enough to beat second place Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), with the Frenchman coming through Q1 to stick his Yamaha on the front row. That’s a proper top job from the #20, and it’ll be Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) lining up alongside the two blue machines on what is a tantalising front row in Barcelona.
Q1: NO WAY THROUGH FOR PECCO AND MARTIN
As is often the case these days, Q1 was a star-studded affair that included our four most recent World Champions: Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Quartararo, and FP2 pacesetter Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol). But it was none of those names who sat in the early top two positions, because Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) were quickest out of the blocks.
Mir then stepped up his pace to jump into P2, knocking Miller out of the promotion places, as Quartararo improved his time to a 1:38.417 to go P3 – 0.186s adrift of Di Giannantonio. At the end of the first run, Martin was P7, with Bagnaia in P10 – work to be done for our 2023 and 2024 title winners.
It was all change at the top with three minutes to go. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) took turns at leading before Quartararo rose to P1 with a 1:37.906, a new all-time lap record, as Di Giannantonio climbed back to P2 to sit 0.139s away from the Frenchman. Now, could Bagnaia pull something out of the hat on his final lap? He needed to, because the #63 was P12. However, the best the Italian could do was hop into P11, and Martin could only manage P8. A morning to forget for both, as Quartararo and Di Giannantonio sailed into Q2.
Q2: LAP RECORD SMASHED AS ALEX MARQUEZ EARNS POLE
It wasn’t an ideal start to the session for Marc Marquez after Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) slid up the inside of the championship leader at Turn 1 after gobbling up a healthy amount of slipstream, costing the #93 his first go at it. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez was straight into the 1:37s to go P1 ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who then improved his time a lap later despite overtaking Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) around the outside at Turn 10.
Then, Quartararo grabbed P1 but his stay at the summit was short-lived because Alex Marquez set a 1:37.914 to take provisional pole back. That saw Acosta sit P3 after the initial efforts, Zarco was P4, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was occupying P5 ahead of Marc Marquez in P6.
That, as things stood, was a rather tasty-looking grid for the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix, but there were still five minutes of play time in Q2 to shake things up a bit. And on his first lap in the closing stages, Acosta was on it. 0.176s was the time he had in hand coming into Sector 3 and sure enough, the #37 shot to P1 with a new lap record – but it was then cancelled!
Then, after an almighty last sector, Alex Marquez landed a colossal 1:37.536 to go four tenths clear of Marc Marquez, before Quartararo responded to crawl back into P2. Acosta went again and improved his time but it was only good enough for P4, 0.074s away from the front row. That became P5 though because Morbidelli propelled his VR46 Ducati into P4, as we then turned our attention to the Marquez brothers on track together.
Through Sector 1, with Alex chasing Marc, the red corner was on target for pole but at Turn 5, a moment. And a pretty big one on the front end too. Did he save it? Of course he did. But that meant Marc Marquez’s pole position hopes were ended, meaning Alex Marquez collected a Saturday morning P1 ahead of Quartararo and Marc Marquez in front of his home crowd.
THE TOP 12 ON THE GRID
Morbidelli spearheads Row 2 ahead of Acosta and Di Giannantonio, as KTM’s Friday dominance fades a little in qualifying – but P5 will do for the Spaniard. Zarco dropped to P7 at the end of the session, with the Frenchman joined on Row 3 by top Aprilia Ogura and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) qualified P10 to sit ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) on the grid.
COMING UP: SPRINT TIME IN BARCELONA
How about that for a grid? We look set to be locked in for a barnstorming Tissot Sprint in Barcelona, make sure you tune in to see if Alex Marquez, Quartararo or anyone else can end Marc Marquez’s incredible run – or the latter continues his dominant victory streak.
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
Amazon.co.uk
Modern Classic Motorcycle News
Amazon.co.uk
£519.00
PRIMEPRIME
Insta360 X4 Motorcycle Bundle - 8K Waterproof 360 Action Camera, 4K Wide-Angle Video, Invisible Selfie Stick, Removable Lens Guards, 135 Min Battery Life, AI...
Amazon.co.uk
£387.99
PRIMEPRIME
DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Motorcycling/Mountain Cycling Combo, Action Camera 4K for Riders, 1/1.3" Sensor, 155º FOV, 4hrs Battery, Sports Data Recording, Chest...
-5%
Amazon.co.uk
£56.99 £59.99
PRIMEPRIME
Quad Lock Motorcycle Handlebar Mount PRO for for iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel and Universal Adapters
-11%
Amazon.co.uk
£141.49 £159.99
PRIMEPRIME
Oxford Beast Lock Padlock. Motorcycle Diamond Sold Secure. LK120, Black
-6%
Amazon.co.uk
£229.99 £244.99
Oxford Beast 22mm chain x 2.0mtr. High Security Heavy Duty Motorbike Chain. Sold Secure Diamond. LK127
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!
Keep Up to Date with the Most Important News
