Marco Bezzecchi claimed pole position during MotoGP qualifying Saturday at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in Italy. Riding his Aprilia Racing RS-GP25 on the 2.63-mile (4.23 km) track, Bezzecchi turned a 1:30.134 to top the 23-rider field.
Alex Marquez was the best of the rest with a 1:30.222 on his BK8 Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP24, and Fabio Quartararo claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:30.228 on his Monster Energy Yamaha YZR-M1.
Row-two qualifiers included Marc Marquez on his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP25 (1:30.352), Franco Morbidelli on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati Desmosedici GP24 (1:30.383) and Luca Marini on his Honda HRC Castol RC213V (1:30.390).
Marc Marquez’s teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, qualified 8th with a lap time of 1:30.414.
QualifyingResults Motogp
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Brilliant Bezzecchi bags Misano pole, Marc Marquez off the front. The Italian puts his Aprilia at the spearhead of the grid as Alex Marquez and Quartararo earn front rows at the San Marino GP.
Misano, you have a home hero on pole thanks to Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) late run in a fascinating MotoGP Q2. The Italian landed a 1:30.134 on his penultimate flying lap to beat Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) by just 0.088s, while Q1 graduate Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) also got within a tenth of a Saturday morning P1. Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) will launch from P4 ahead of a quartet of hungry Italians.
Q1: Quartararo and Aldeguer gain Q2 promotion
At the end of the opening efforts in Q1, Quartararo led the way with a 1:30.842, as Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) slotted into an early P2 thanks to a lap that was just 0.010s slower than the Frenchman.
Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Barcelona’s P3 podium finisher, needed a lap in the latter stages of Q1 but on his out-lap, ‘The Beast’ crashed at Turn 15 with five minutes to go, and that was session over. At best, it would be a P17 grid slot on home soil for Bastianini.
Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Trackhouse MotoGP duo, Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, threatened to penetrate that top two in the closing stages, but a rapid Quartararo – who set a blistering 1:30.481 – and Aldeguer were the two sailing into Q2.
Q2: Pole scrap goes down to the wire
And then, it was pole position shootout time at Misano – and one that would be underway without Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) after the Spaniard and the team decided to sit out Saturday’s action following his crash in Practice.
On track, Marc Marquez sent the initial benchmark, a 1:30.624, but chasing him on the road was his younger brother Alex Marquez. The #93 sat up and out of his second flying lap but the #73 didn’t – and it was a time that sent the Catalan GP winner to the summit. A 1:30.222 was now the provisional pole time, the fastest lap of the weekend so far, as Bezzecchi slotted into P2 ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
After the small mistake, Marc Marquez dropped to P7, with Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) currently occupying the second row.
Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) all got Turn 1 wrong on their opening second run laps, as Marc Marquez had Acosta for company – and both were setting red splits through the first two sectors. Then, Acosta crashed at the tight Turn 14, while the championship leader leapt to P2, 0.130s away from Alex Marquez.
Bagnaia got his next lap right and jumped from P6 to P4, as Bezzecchi and Quartararo then lit up the timing screens. First across the line was the latter, and it was a belter – the #20 leapfrogged Marc Marquez to go P2, 0.096s off Alex Marquez, before Bezzecchi delighted the Italian faithful to grab provisional pole.
However, this wasn’t done. Quartararo strung together another brilliant lap but it wasn’t quite enough. 0.094s was the gap between Bezzecchi and third place Quartararo, and with no more improvements coming, Misano pole position did land in Bezzecchi’s hands as the #72 leads Alex Marquez and Quartararo on the front row.
YOUR SPRINT AND GRAND PRIX GRID
Marc Marquez will launch from P4 at the San Marino GP, with Morbidelli starting fifth and a late lap from Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) saw the Italian earn a late P6 – his best qualifying result with HRC.
Di Giannantonio spearheads the third row in P7 ahead of Bagnaia and Acosta, with Aldeguer only 0.4s away from pole, but such is the competitiveness in MotoGP this weekend, that was only good enough for P10. Meanwhile, Martin had to settle for P11.
COMING UP: IT’S SPRINT TIME IN MISANO
Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, Quartararo – three manufacturers, three nationalities, and a mouthwatering front row. Marc Marquez is lurking, as 13 laps of Tissot Sprint action await.
