Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi led an Aprilia 1-2-3 in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix as MotoGP returned to something approaching normality following the bizarre Catalan GP two weeks ago.
It was almost a perfect return to form for the Noale factory, with Bezzecchi leading Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez and his team-mate Jorge Martin. Only Ai Ogura’s failure to make it through Q1 blots the Aprilia copybook.
Bezzecchi, meanwhile, has set himself up perfectly to stretch his championship lead after Aprilia’s blip in Spain.
Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez will line up fourth on his return from injury, leading the challenge to Aprilia.
It came as no surprise when Qualifying 1 turned into something of a private battle between the Trackhouse Aprilias, Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, and the factory KTM of Pedro Acosta.
While Acosta led Fernandez after the first run, the latter was able to strike back when the riders went out with their second and final set of tyres, securing top spot on the final timesheets.
Ogura threatened throughout the session with multiple ‘red sectors’, but repeatedly lost time in the final part of the lap. That ensured Acosta would join Fernandez in Q2, with Ogura condemned to line up 13th for the Italian GP as first of the Q1 losers.
Qualifying 2 turned in a straight, fair fight without significant yellow flags interrupting any of the drama around the Tuscan circuit. The riders took different strategic approaches to the session, spreading themselves out on the final runs.
Indeed, Bezzecchi’s record lap of 1m43.921s was set with around five minutes left on the clock. But his effort proved to be plenty, as nobody came within 0.224s of the points leader – a substantial gap in modern MotoGP terms.
Behind the Aprilia lockout, it will be an all-Ducati second row, with Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) and factory rider Francesco Bagnaia lining up alongside Marquez.
Like Bagnaia, Fabio Di Giannantonio was unable to deliver on the promise shown in the practice sessions, managing only seventh. One mitigating factor may have been a switch to his second bike after his primary VR46 Ducati broke down in FP2, just before qualifying.
Diogo Moreira starred as the leading Honda rider, putting in easily the best qualifying result of his young career. LCR’s Brazilian rookie will line up eighth, between Di Giannantonio and VR46’s Franco Morbidelli.
Acosta, Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) and Alex Rins (Yamaha) will complete the fourth row.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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