MotoGP | Alex Marquez signs his first wet pole in Argentina

The track that was gradually drying after the rain that fell during Q1 made qualifying for the MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix very uncertain right up to the checkered flag. And in the end these conditions rewarded the courage of those riders who chose to risk using slick tires in the closing minutes.

Above all, Alex Marquez, who went on to take his first pole position in the premier class of his career with a time of 1’43″881 signed right under the checkered flag. For the Spaniard from Gresini Racing it seems like true love with the Ducati , but today he saw his courage rewarded at the end of a qualification that in some ways had also been troubled.

In fact, Alex had been forced to pass from Q1, in which he had already been the fastest, but practically when the time was up he had crashed in the penultimate corner, which had also started a fire on his Desmosedici GP and the he had forced to use his second bike. Not bad apparently, given that he still showed off a great performance.

Too bad for Marco Bezzecchi, because after the podium in Portimao, the Mooney VR46 driver narrowly missed his second career pole position. It seemed like it had already been done for the rider from Rimini, who however had to bow to Marquez by 172 thousandths when the Spaniard crossed the finish line. However, for him it is the umpteenth confirmation of a great moment of form.

Just as confirmation of Pecco Bagnaia’s lucidity arrived, he too among those who understood in the final stages that the time had come to switch to slicks and therefore went to bring his Ducati to the front row for both races this weekend . An excellent position to continue the work begun with Portimao’s one-two, but also a great joy for Ducati, which thus monopolizes the front row.

The ranks of those who stayed on the rain opens instead with Franco Morbidelli, who this weekend seems to have suddenly rediscovered the speed that he seemed to have lost in the last year and a half. The Yamaha rider caught more than 2″, but will still line up fourth. Not bad at all if you consider that his teammate Fabio Quartararo continued to struggle even in the wet and will have to start tenth.

After yesterday’s domination, one can’t help but speak of disappointment for Aprilia: in the dry, the RS-GPs literally seemed to fly, but in the wet they had a few more difficulties, in addition to the fact that Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro continued with the rain until the end. Therefore, they will line up respectively in fifth and ninth position.

Among them then slipped a trio of Ducatis which included Johann Zarco, Luca Marini and Jorge Martin, with the rider of the Mooney VR46 who had been the other rider to mount the slicks. However, he probably did it too late, because he would have needed one more lap to match the performances of the top three. The picture of Q2 is then completed with the two Hondas of Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins, very far behind even in wet conditions.

Also due to the numerous absences, there are only six riders who said goodbye to the competition at the end of a Q1 held under a real drizzle. Raul Fernandez was really duped by a hair’s breadth, and with his RNF Racing Aprilia he found himself out by just 35 thousandths.

The Spanish rider will share the fifth row with Fabio Di Giannantonio, in turn excluded by less than a tenth with the Gresini Racing Ducati. Two uphill races are also expected for the KTMs, because Brad Binder and Jack Miller have both been eliminated and will start from 15th and 16th. It is surprising to see the Australian so far behind, who in 2018 signed a sensational pole position on this track in mixed conditions.

It’s the middle of the night for Joan Mir on the saddle of the factory Honda. In fact, the world champion finds himself 19th and last and has collected a gap of over a second from the best time in Q1. The feeling with the RC213V doesn’t really seem to want to blossom for now and he also finds himself behind the only rookie on the grid, the Spanish Augusto Fernandez of GasGas.