Espargaro bags a magical pole and lap record from Bagnaia

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) will start the legendary Monster Energy British Grand Prix from pole position after a magnificent lap in qualifying. The #41 set an unbelievable 1:57.309, giving Espargaro a 0.208s advantage over Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), in second position. The Italian took provisional pole position early in Q2 before being pipped by the Aprilia Racing rider in the final 30 seconds. Joining them on the front row was Enea Bastianini, who capped off a magnificent qualifying for the Ducati Lenovo Team.

Late Q1 heartbreak for Raul Fernandez

It was a sensational Q1 session, with the top two spots undecided until the final minute of the session. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) topped the pile at the end of the session, improving on his final lap and earning a spot in Q2 alongside Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), who finished P2. It was late heartbreak from Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), who pushed his RS-GP24 to the limit but would be pushed to third in the final minute. Soon after, Q2 got underway with blistering times as Bagnaia, Bastianini, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Espargaro entered the 1:57 bracket.

In the closing minutes, the pace began to heat up with Martin looking for a clear piece of track. Bagnaia rolled out of his flying lap after his vision was obscured by a strip on his visor. Meanwhile, Espargaro started a fast lap with minutes to go, leaping from fourth to provisional pole position at Silverstone. While it was delight for Espargaro, it was disappointment for Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), crashing at Turn 2. After the yellow flags came out, nobody could improve or match the pole time on their final lap, allowing the #41 to take a fantastic pole position.

Martin starts on the second row

Martin could only manage fourth place on the grid, unable to get the opportunity to improve his early time. It is a talent-packed second row with Alex Marquez storming from Q1 to fifth place on the grid. The Spaniard was 0.508s adrift from Espargaro’s pole lap but put together an impressive showing to place ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder.

Back on the third row of the grid, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) will start from seventh position. The eight-time World Champion set his best time on his second lap, placing him alongside Viñales, who walked away after a late crash. Meanwhile, another Q1 graduate, Acosta will round off the third row after a strong result in ninth.

There is still plenty of action remaining as all attention turns to the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 local time (UTC +1), and with El Capitan starting from pole position, make sure you don’t miss anything on motogp.com!

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