Marquez snatches pole in factory Ducati 1-2

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez clinched pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, narrowly beating local hero Francesco Bagnaia in a factory Ducati 1-2.

The six-time world champion went fastest early on in the session, helped by a tow from his younger brother, Alex (Gresini Ducati) at Mugello.

Fabio Quartararo, Bagnaia and Alex Marquez knocked him off the top spot but the Spaniard hit back later on to take pole.

Second place went to the much-improved Bagnaia, just over five-hundredths of a second shy of Marc Marquez. Alex Maquez finished the session third, eight hundredths off top.

Quartararo was a superb fourth after being given the all-clear on Friday night to return to the track following his crash in Friday practice. The Yamaha danced and squirmed its way around the circuit, but the 2021 champion was almost three-tenths off come the end of qualifying.

Maverick Vinales’s Tech3 KTM was fifth with Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio in sixth and seventh respectively. Pedro Acosta could only manage eighth on the KTM after being so positive on Friday evening.

The other factory Yamaha of Alex Rins completed the session in ninth with Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the top 10 on his Aprilia RS-GP25. Q1 graduates Augusto Fernandez and Fermín Aldeguer completed the top 12 riders.

A rather unhappy Jack Miller qualified 13th, as he was set to progress into Q2 following a quick lap towards the end only to be knocked out by Fernandez. The Australian is fighting to retain his place at Yamaha for next year, so his feelings were understandable.

Johann Zarco was 14th, the French Grand Prix winner struggling with the straight line speed of his bike as were the other Honda riders. Just behind him was Brad Binder, not progressing into Q2 for the seventh time this season.

The South African was optimistic on Friday, expecting a quick time once some issues were ironed out. Clearly, the problems are more complex than KTM first thought.

The other Tech3 KTM of Enea Bastianini finished Q1 in 16th while Pramac Yamaha’s Miguel Oliveira finished the session in 17th. The factory Honda duo of Joan Mir and the wildcard entry of Takaaki Nakagami were next on the timing screen. The chronic lack of speed in the fourth sector severely hindered the quality efforts of the Japanese manufacturer.

Lorenzo Savadori, Ai Ogura and LCR’s Somkiat Chantra rounded out the grid.

MotoGP Italian GP qualifying results