What a day of qualifying we had at the Gran Premio Red Bull de España. History was made ahead of Sunday’s races and before watching them, take a look at ten stats to get you warmed up for what looks set to be a day to remember in Jerez.
1. Rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) has qualified on pole position for the first time in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, setting a new all-time lap record in Jerez. Aged 20 years and 14 days old, Quartararo is the youngest rider to qualify on pole position in the class, beating the record set by Marc Marquez (20 years and 62 days old) in 2013.
2. With Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, this is the first 1-2 for Independent Team riders in qualifying since the Japanese GP back in 2017 with Johann Zarco and Danilo Petrucci.
3. In addition, this is the first time with two Independent Team Yamaha riders since Sachsenring 2002 with Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano (on 2-stroke bikes), and the first time with riders from the same Independent Team since Valencia back in 2005, when it was Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri.
4. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified in third place as the highest-placed Honda rider. This is Marquez’ fourth successive front row start since the opening race of the year in Qatar
5. The Championship leader, Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), heads the second row on the grid, which is his best qualifying result in Jerez since he was also fourth in 2016. He retired from that race due to a mechanical problem
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Castrol) has qualified in eighth place on the grid, which is his best qualifying performance since he stepped up to the MotoGP™ class.
7. Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team), who has won three times in the MotoGP™ class at Jerez, qualified in 11th place for the second successive time, equalling his best qualifying result since he joined Honda this year. He crashed in Q2.
8. Joining Q2 directly for the second time this year, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) starts from 12th on the grid. For the first time this year, three of the four rookies were in Q2.
9. Missing out on a place in Q2 for the first time in 2019 after Qatar, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) starts from 13th, which is his worst qualifying result in Jerez since he was also 13th at the track back in 2012, riding a Ducati.
10. Fabio Quartararo, Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) will start from pole for the first time in their classes. This is the first time this has happened in every class since Argentina last year with Jack Miller, Xavi Vierge and Tony Arbolino.