Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia stormed to pole with a lap record at Misano in qualifying for MotoGP’s San Marino Grand Prix as Marc Marquez crashed out.
Italian Bagnaia, who has two wins in the last three years at the venue, controlled the session from the first circulation, heading an all-Ducati top three and a clean sweep of the front row for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy as Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli took second, just 0.2s from his countryman, and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi clinched third.
Gresini rider Marquez, who secured a first win on Ducati machinery last weekend, crashed at Turn 15 during Q2 and ended up ninth.
“The pace is super-good and my feeling on the bike is fantastic,” said Bagnaia. “I’m not 100% physically but luckily when I am riding I feel OK, so this is good,”
World championship leader Jorge Martin was fourth ahead of the first non-Ducati rider, Tech 3 GasGas’s Pedro Acosta and KTM’s Brad Binder, who entered the session through Q1.
In seventh and topping the third row was Gresini’s Alex Marquez, who also came through Q1. He was quicker than factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, who suffered an engine problem in FP2. Just behind Marc Marquez was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in 10th, only 0.7s from the pace-setting Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales appeared to have a technical issue deep into Q2 but was still the best qualifier for the Italian brand in 11th. KTM’s Jack Miller ranked 12th as the last runner in the period.
Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro crashed on the entry to the long left-hander at Turn 8 during Q1 and did not make the cut, while Honda’s Joan Mir was still not fit enough to compete having been struck down with a stomach virus on Wednesday and was forced to withdraw from the weekend.