It was a session to remember for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as the two progressed to Q2. In a dramatic session, the Italian’s 1:33.393 was enough to comfortably take P1 by 0.706s, while Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) failed to make his mark and will start Sunday’s race from P15.
The damp conditions made it difficult for a number of riders to master the Misano circuit, but there were no problems for Bagnaia who began to chalk up fast lap after fast lap. Quartararo kept pace with the GP 21 in the early stages, but hopes of easy passage through were quickly dismissed as Lecuona, Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) all pushed hard to move into the Q2 places, but it was the Tech 3 rider who would eventually take P2.
Crashes played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the second Q2 place, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Michele Pirro (Ducati Lenovo Team), Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponorama) all bringing out the yellow flags, the last of which seeing Quartararo's final effort cancelled, and relegating him to a season-worst P15 grid start.
The battle for pole is up next, make sure you follow it all on motogp.com