Q1 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana saw a few big names looking for a way though, and under sunny skies on Saturday it was Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who came out on top. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro ran him close, however, with the number 44 provisionally fastest before Rins struck back in the final few seconds.
That leaves Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Idemitsu) as one somewhat surprising name outside the top 12 on the grid as he was the man to lose out, and he’s joined by Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) in P15 and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team), who’ll begin his final race from P16.
Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), on the other side of the coin, begins his first ever premier class race from an impressive 19th.