Hat-trick hero: Quartararo lights up Silverstone for record pole

It’s fair to say Fabio Quartararo and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are enjoying qualifying because for the third time in succession, the French star will launch into the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix from pole position. Quartararo’s new Silverstone all-time lap record, a 1:57.233, was a staggering 0.309s better than second place Alex Marquez’s (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) best effort, as the #73 and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) clinch front row starts for the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, title race leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) starts from P4. 

Q1 – HRC & VR46 EARN POLE POSITION SHOOTOUT SPOTS

Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) set the first benchmark time in the opening 15 minutes of qualifying, but that was bettered by Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) on the second set of flying laps. The #37, who had crashed at Turn 7 in FP2, led with a 1:58.566, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) second after the first efforts.

Drama unfolded once the second runs started as Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) stopped with a technical issue at the Vale chicane, before Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) crashed at Turn 2. The yellow flags caught out some, including Fernandez, as Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) climbed into the top two. And that’s the way it stayed. Mir improved on his final lap but it wasn’t quite enough – 0.023s the gap in favour of Morbidelli.

Q2 – THE FLYING FRENCHMAN

Q1 was the starter, Q2 the main course for now. On the opening flyers, Marc was shadowing brother Alex, with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) tagging onto the top two in the Championship as well. And it was the latter who sailed to the summit in the early exchanges of Q2, with Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) making it a Yamaha 1-2. That was then 1-2-3 as Quartararo jumped to P1 but the times were about to tumble.

A certain #93 then moved the goalposts into the 1:57s, a 1:57.914, as Bagnaia slotted into P2 before Quartararo responded – the Frenchman was now P2, 0.281s away from the title chase and session leader.

So where were we after the first two full attack mode laps? Marc Marquez led from Quartararo and Bagnaia, with Alex Marquez, Rins and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) occupying Row 2 heading into the final five minutes of Q2.

And the order changed immediately once the third gung-ho laps came in as Bagnaia climbed to provisional pole, but Alex Marquez beat the Italian by nearly three tenths. Then it was all eyes on Quartararo. Would it be three in a row? Maybe. Quartararo set a blistering all-time lap record to go three tenths clear of the #73 and on his attempts to reclaim P1, Marquez was off the circuit through Maggotts and Becketts.

That maybe we spoke about? Swap that to absolutely. Quartararo’s stunner was plenty good enough and for the first time in four years, El Diablo was on pole for the third straight Grand Prix. Stunning. Alex Marquez and Bagnaia complete the front row, with Marc Marquez spearheading Row 2 in P4.

Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) joins his compatriot on the second row following another strong performance from the rookie, the #54 is P5 ahead of sixth place Miller. Di Giannantonio, Marini and Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) complete the third row, with the latter crashing unhurt late into Q2 at Turn 6. Morbidelli, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Rins round out the top 12, with Morbidelli set for a three-place grid penalty.

NEXT UP: SILVERSTONE HOSTS THE TISSOT SPRINT

Well, that sets us up very nicely for this afternoon’s Tissot Sprint. Kick off is 16:00 local time (UTC+1), can Quartararo take it to the Championship leading trio at Silverstone in race trim? We’ll find out very soon.

MotoGP qualifying results!