Aleix Espargaro sizzles to Catalunya pole

Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro has reset his own All Time Lap Record to claim pole position for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. In what was a three-way fight for pole in MotoGP™ Q2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Aleix Espargaro’s 1:38.742 saw him prevail by just 0.031 seconds over the Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia. World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) is also set to start from the front row on Sunday afternoon.

Row 2 will be all-Ducati, with Prima Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco fourth, his team-mate Jorge Martin sixth, and Gresini Racing MotoGP™’s Fabio Di Giannantonio between them on the starting grid. The second Aprilia Racing entry, piloted by Maverick Viñales, will line up on the middle of Row 3.

Bagnaia pushes A. Espargaro all the way

It was very tight at the end of the first runs of Q2, with Quartararo top on a 1:39.055, Bagnaia second at just a hundredth of a second off the pace, and Aleix Espargaro only two thousandths slower again in third spot. Viñales had come through Q1 to be eighth by the time the track went quiet on a 1:39.594.

While track temperature was approaching 60 degrees Celsius, the pace was just as hot when riders came back out for their second runs. Bagnaia raised the stakes when he punched out a 1:38.787, only 0.016 seconds away from the lap record which Aleix Espargaro had achieved in FP3, before taking an excursion through the run-off area at Turn 1. Aprilia's 'Captain' then snatched provisional pole with that 1:38.742, while Quartararo consolidated third spot with a 1:38.959.

Apparently not content to rest on his laurels, Aleix Espargaro was still pushing on his final lap when he outbraked himself at Turn 10. Bagnaia was also continuing to chase time, and time he did find, but only enough to eke out a 1:38.773, meaning the older of the brothers from nearby Granollers would indeed take a second pole position of the season.

Ducatis aplenty behind the front row

It is a horde of Bologna bullets on Row 2 after Zarco finished Q2 with a 1:39.027 to claim fourth-fastest, 0.072 seconds up on Desmosedici GP21 pilot Di Giannantonio. Martin was sixth-quickest courtesy of the 1:39.142 which he set on his first run, and likewise Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in qualifying seventh on a 1:39.145.

While 0.403 seconds separated first from seventh in qualifying, Viñales was 0.252 seconds further back in eighth spot, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) also making it onto Row 3. The fourth row will be headed up by Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), from Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) and the second of the Q1 graduates in Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu).

How the rest of the grid looks

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) was the biggest name who got stuck in Q1. A flurry of red and orange on the timing screen saw Viñales sit first on a 1:39.216 and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) second on a 1:39.240 a minute to go in the session, before the latter ran off at Turn 3. Bastianini could only move up to third-fastest just before the chequered flag came out with a 1:39.246, and that would be all he had. Bezzecchi, however, also missed out when Nakagami jumped into second spot with a 1:39.223.

Row 5 will be Bezzecchi, Bastianini, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), the latter of whom took a detour through the Turn 10 gravel trap on his final lap. Behind them will be Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in 16th, ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™). Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) missed the session after a nasty-looking crash in FP4 which saw the Spaniard taken to the medical centre for an x-ray on his left wrist.

MotoGP™ Warm Up takes place on Sunday at 09:40 (GMT +2), before the race itself later in the afternoon. Will Aleix Espargaro take his second premier class race win at his home track? Find out from 14:00.

MotoGP™ Q2 Top 10:

1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) – 1:38.742
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.031
3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.217
4. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.285
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing) + 0.357
6. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.400
7. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.403
8. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.655
9. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) + 0.709
10. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.735

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