Alex Marquez smashed the Barcelona MotoGP track record to claim pole position for the Catalan Grand Prix, as factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia struggled to 21st position.
The final part of qualifying was a two-horse race between the younger Marquez and Yamaha star Fabio Quartararo, who had come through from Q1 to challenge for pole position.
The pair traded the fastest times during the first runs, with the Gresini rider putting himself on provisional pole with a 1m37.914s.
As the second run began, KTM’s Pedro Acosta briefly moved to the top with a new lap record of 1m37.840s, but his time was soon deleted for track limits, putting Marquez back at the front.
Marquez moved the goalposts further with a 1m37.536s on his penultimate tour, putting four tenths between himself and his nearest rival on the timesheets.
Quartararo tried to respond to the Spaniard’s heroic effort but had no answer to Marquez’s pace, as the 29-year-old secured pole by over a quarter of a second.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
It marked his second career pole in MotoGP, having previously topped the 2023 Argentine GP qualifying in his first season with Gresini.
His brother and championship runaway leader Marc Marquez finished 0.409s off top in third, after his final flying lap was spoiled with a major moment at Turn 5.
Meanwhile, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli was classified fourth on last year’s Ducati, two spots ahead of his team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio.
Splitting the two VR46 riders was Acosta, who had to settle for fifth after failing to repeat his deleted 1m37s lap in the latter part of qualifying.
LCR rider Johann Zarco was Honda’s top qualifier in seventh, while Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura led Aprilia’s charge in eighth as the Noale marque’s factory rider Marco Bezzecchi ended up 12th. Tech3 KTM’s Enea Bastianini and factory Honda rider Luca Marini were classified ninth and 10th respectively.
Having set the pace on Friday, KTM ace Brad Binder could only manage the 11th-fastest time of the day after having to switch to his second RC16.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer missed out on Q2 by just 0.004s and will start 13th on the grid ahead of Pramac’s Jack Miller and Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez.
Miller’s team-mate Miguel Oliveira will take the start from 16th on the grid, with factory Honda rider Joan Mir and Aprilia star Jorge Martin joining him on the sixth row.
Meanwhile, double MotoGP champion Bagnaia endured his worst qualifying result since he started last at the 2022 Portuguese Grand Prix, ending up 21st with a time of 1m38.530s.
The only riders he outqualified were Tech3 returnee Maverick Vinales, Aprilia wildcard Lorenzo Savadori and LCR rookie Somkiat Chantra.
Catalan GP qualifying – Q2 results:
Q1 results:
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