MUGELLO: Six-time World Champion
Marc Marquez
and his
Repsol Honda
teammate Pol Espargaro were able to make improvements over the course of the second day in Italy, late runs again showing their progress. Thoughts throughout Saturday at the Italian Grand Prix were with Jason Dupasquier after his heavy fall during Moto3 Qualifying.
World championship leader
Fabio Quartararo
of
Yamaha
claimed his fourth consecutive pole of the MotoGP season at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday after he set a lap record at the
Mugello Circuit
.
A front row lockout from the top three championship contenders saw Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, a point behind Quartararo, seal second on the grid while Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco lines up alongside him in third.
Marquez continued to save himself until later in the sessions as he tackled the physical demands of Mugello on Saturday. Free Practice 3 was another steady session where
Marquez
was able to ride comfortably until the final moments when the Repsol Honda rider (#93) moved himself up to 12th, only half a second behind the fastest rider of the session and less than 0.150s from a top-ten spot on the combined times. As always, tactics came out in Q1 and Marquez played it to perfection to advance through the session as the fastest rider, joining team-mate Espargaro in Q2. Marquez would wait until the second half of the session to join the on-track action, exiting pit lane with six minutes of the session left to save his physical condition. Marquez will start in 11th place.
Another late lap push from Espargaro saw the rider rocket into the top ten in the closing minutes of Free Practice 3 and wrap up a very positive first session of the day. Crucially, his 1min 45.858seconds was good enough for ninth overall and Espargaro guaranteed himself and the team a top-12 grid spot with a direct trip to Q2. Free Practice 4 helped Espargaro and his side of the garage to clarify some final changes to his RC213V before Qualifying. Both practice sessions saw an improvement in rear grip, Espargaro pleased with the progress made in this area.
The 15-minute session did not go to plan for Espargaro, the Granollers native feeling a different choice in tyre could have promoted him a row ahead. Espargaro will launch from 12th on the grid tomorrow, a good start and run into Turn 1 will be crucial to gain early positions and try to stay with the leading pack.
Marquez later said: “This morning I felt quite good and I was able to ride well but in the afternoon I started to struggle more with my physical condition. In Q1 I knew I had to follow someone because this was the only chance I had to do some quick laps and I was not expecting to make it into Q2 but the lap was good. I saw Viñales after the session and we spoke about it and I apologised. The stress and effort of these laps meant I couldn’t ride how I wanted to in Q2, but it was still a good day overall. I know I won’t be able to ride the race how I want but we will do what we can. But the main point of today is that hopefully Jason in Moto3 is alright, we are all thinking about him.”
Espargaro, on his part, said: “Today was better than Friday but it is not what we are looking for. We were able to improve our rear grip a lot, which is very good because this is one area we have been working to improve. But I made a wrong decision with the front tyre, and it made the change of directions very tough in Qualifying. I was happy with the medium front in the morning, but I chose the hard because of the temperature and in hindsight I should have followed what we had done before but it’s my mistake. Maybe with a perfect lap we could have gained another row. Tomorrow is the race and it’s time to put everything out on track. My best wishes go out to Jason, I hope that he can come back soon.”
Italian GP GridFront row1. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha), 2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati), 3. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac)2nd row4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilla), 5. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati), 6. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM)3rd row7. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM), 8. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki), 9. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki)4th row10. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Yamaha-SRT), 11. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda), 12. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda).
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