Bagnaia grabs pole, Martin starts #TheRematch decider from Row 2
The #1 holds on by 0.055 ahead of Espargaro and Marquez, with Martin forced to settle for fourth as the grids set the stage for a stunning finale.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) will start the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix at the Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona from pole as the #1 stayed cool under pressure to hold on at the top. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) made a late lunge for glory but came up short by just 0.055 in his final Q2, with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) completing a fascinating front row – and one that doesn’t feature Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing). He will instead start P4… directly behind his title rival Bagnaia.
Q1
FP2 delivered a final opportunity for the MotoGP™ stars to perfect their setups, with Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) taking top honours as Bagnaia finished ahead of Martin in a busy start to Saturday. Once Q1 itself was underway, Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) set a blistering pace in his opening laps – briefly topping the timesheets. With the clock ticking down, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) then suffered a late crash at Turn 5. Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) were the riders who moved through, earning their spot in Q2 ahead of the final battle for pole.
Q2
The stage was set for Q2, with tactics at play during the first flying laps as Bagnaia went fastest, with Martin sitting in third. It seemed like Espargaro may have been on his own mission for Martin too, but it didn’t ultimately pay off.
Everything came down to the final five minutes, with Bagnaia finding further time and Morbidelli then pushing Martin off the provisional front row. The Championship leader was under pressure and did deliver a faster lap on his final push, but it wasn’t quite enough for that front row. He leapfrogged his teammate but remained behind Marc Marquez. Meanwhile, Espargaro’s last dash saw him challenge for pole, missing out by almost nothing.
THE GRID
Bagnaia, Espargaro and Marquez stare down Turn 1 from the front row, and Martin stares down Bagnaia from directly behind him, at the head of Row 2. Martin will have to work hard to wrap up the title in the Tissot Sprint after qualifying just ahead of teammate Morbidelli. The Italian rounded out the top five spots in Q2 as Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) ended the session as the top KTM/GASGAS rider in sixth.
Viñales spearheads the third row of the grid, ending Q2 a mere 0.351s adrift from Bagnaia’s benchmark. Alongside the #12 will be Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), with ‘The Beast’ now left with some work to do as he is joined by compatriot Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) on the third after the Italian took ninth ahead of Quartararo.
Further back, Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) narrowly missed a spot in Q2 by 0.028s and will line up from 13th. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder also missed a chance to fight in Q2, with the South African starting from P18 on the grid and surely a candidate to move forward…
The stage is set, with the grids poised to deliver some incredible action in Catalunya. Will the title be decided or is there one more twist in the tale? Join us later to find out.
SATURDAY
TISSOT SPRINT: 15:00 (UTC +1)
SUNDAY
GRAND PRIX: 14:00 (UTC +1)
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