It was a momentous day for Pol Espargaro and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing at the BMW M Grand Prix of Styria. Both celebrated their maiden premier class pole positions as Pol Espargaro now goes in hunt of his first MotoGP™ win on Sunday afternoon.
To get you ready for another Red Bull Ring showdown with 10 stats from qualifying:
1. Pol Espargaro has qualified on pole position, which is his first pole since he stepped up to MotoGP™ back in 2014 and his first since he was on pole at the 2013 Valencia GP in Moto2™.
2. Pol becomes the 10th different Spanish rider to qualify on pole in the premier class, and this is Spain’s 175th pole position since 1974, when pole position records officially began.
3. This is KTM’s first pole in the premier class, which is the first time a factory have taken their maiden pole since the 2003 Spanish GP (Ducati with Loris Capirossi), and the first time for a manufacturer since Forward Yamaha at the 2014 Dutch GP.
4. Aleix and Pol Espargaro are the first brothers to take premier class pole positions.
5. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) has qualified second as the top Honda and Independent Team rider, which is his best qualifying result and his first front row start since he stepped up to MotoGP™ in 2018. He’s the first Japanese rider to start from the front row since Shinya Nakano was also second at the 2006 Australian GP.
6. Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) qualified in third place as the highest Ducati rider. This is the second time this year he has qualified within the top three, but he will start from pitlane due to a penalty.
7. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) has qualified fourth, which is his best qualifying result in MotoGP™. With Zarco’s penalty, Mir starts from third, which is his first front row start in the premier class. He finished second last week in Austria, his first podium finish in MotoGP™.
8. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) qualified eighth but starts from seventh, which is his second best Saturday result after claiming P5 in Andalucia.
9. Winner of the last two races at the Red Bull Ring, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) qualified in ninth but launches from P8. This is the first time he fails to start from the front two rows at the Austrian venue.
10. Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was 10th in Q2, equalling his worst qualifying result in MotoGP™ from Le Mans and Brno last year. The last time he failed to qualify on the front row was the 2019 British Grand Prix.