Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) has given himself a fighting chance of a second MotoGP™ World Championship title with one of his better qualifying performances at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana is, of course, #TheDecider but nothing is decided just yet, with Quartararo qualifying a full row ahead of Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Pecco started the weekend with the odds in his favour but it has been a far from smooth sailing so far for the Italian, which continued with a subpar qualifying result on Saturday afternoon. Read on to find out about that and more in the 10 things you need to know.
1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) has qualified on pole position for the ninth time in MotoGP™. It is his fifth pole this season, along with the Qatar, Americas, Australian, and Malaysian GPs, and the second successive time in Valencia. He will be aiming to win for the second time in the class along with Styria last year.
2. This is Ducati’s 16th pole position this season, equalling the record the most pole positions in a single MotoGP™ season set by Honda in 2011.
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified second, his third successive front row start. He will be aiming to win for the first time since Emilia-Romagna last year (378 days). Over his seven races in MotoGP in Valencia, he has scored six podiums, including two wins.
4. For his last race with Ducati, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) has qualified third, which is his seventh front row start of the season. This is his third successive front row in Valencia, and he will be aiming to stand on the podium for third time in a row at the track.
5. Thanks to Martin and Miller, this is the 40th successive race where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying.
6. Fabio Quartararo has qualified fourth, which is his second-best qualifying result in MotoGP™ in Valencia, after taking pole in 2019. To retain the title, Quartararo must win while his rival Francesco Bagnaia must not finish better than P15.
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified seventh, equalling his third-best qualifying result of the season at Qatar (when he finished second), after Japan (when he qualified third) and Indonesia (when he qualified fourth).
8. Winner last year in Valencia, Bagnaia has qualified eighth, which is the sixth time this year that he has failed to start from the front two rows. He could clinch the MotoGP title if he finishes within the top 14, or if he finishes P15 or fails to score any points and Quartararo doesn’t win.
9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), who crashed in Q2, has qualified ninth. It will be the sixth time this season that he fails to start from the front two rows, while he is still aiming to take his maiden win in MotoGP™.
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing, 212 points) is still in contention for third place in the MotoGP™ World Championship, along with Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™, 211). Bastianini has qualified 13th after a crash in Q1.