Francesco Bagnaia earned pole position during MotoGP qualifying Saturday at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in Spain. Riding his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP24 on the dry 2.90-mile (4.65 km) track, the two-time and defending World Champion turned a 1:38.641, was good enough to top the 23-rider field.
Aleix Espargaro was the best of the rest with a 1:38.696 on his factory Aprilia RS-GP, and Marc Marquez claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:38.798 on his Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici.
Row-two qualifiers included Jorge Martin (1:38.849) and his teammate Franco Morbidelli (1:38.886) on their Prima Pramac Racing Ducati, Pedro Acosta (1:38.949) on his Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 machine.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Bagnaia claims pole to secure the Q2 advantage as Martin grabs P4. Francesco Bagnaia will start the Solidarity GP from pole position after clocking stunning time as Martin prepares to launch from P4 on the grid.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has secured the final pole position of the year after an intense Q2 at the Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona. Q2 went down to the wire, with the #1 clocking an incredible 1:38.641 on his final run – delivering the perfect start to Saturday. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) will join the Italian on the front row, with the #41 working hard throughout the session and completing some laps with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing). Espargaro heads from second on the grid, while Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) secured P3 on the grid after setting a stunning time in Q2.
Bagnaia delivers a stunning lap
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 was underway, Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) set a blistering pace in his opening laps – briefly topping the timesheets. With the clock ticking down, pressure mounted when Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) suffered a late crash at Turn 5. This saw Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) earn their spot in Q2 ahead of the final battle for pole.
The stage was set for Q2, with tactics at play during the first flying laps as Bagnaia went fastest, with Martin sitting in third as Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) suffered an early crash. Everything came down to the final five minutes, with #TheRematch heading for one final Q2 showdown as Bagnaia found further time and Morbidelli pushed Martin off the front row. The Championship leader improved, with Martin delivering a 1:38.849 to retain fourth position on the grid.
Martin starts from the second row
The biggest talking point came from Martin, with the #89 remaining on the second row of the – qualifying in fourth. Martin will have to work hard to wrap up the title in the Tissot Sprint after qualifying 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 Pierer Mobility 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.
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 as he heads alongside his teammate Miller.
Saturday’s action is not over yet, with the world’s most exciting sport returning at 15:00 local time (UTC +1) for a potential title-deciding Tissot Sprint, with Bagnaia starting from pole position as we go #RacingForValencia!