Barcelona – The decision to retire at the end of the season certainly didn’t slow down on the track Aleix Espargaró. In Barcelona, his home circuit (he was born in Granollers, a few kilometers away), he is acting as a showman and even in qualifying he worked his magic and put his Aprilia in pole position. It wasn’t enough for him, because he also shattered the record, stopping the clock at a time of 1’38”190.
Pecco Bagnaia (who showed off gloves and boots with the colors of the Brazilian flag in homage to Ayrton Senna «He was an artist, an inspiration for all of us») had to settle for 2nd place on the grid by just 31 thousandths. «I’m very satisfied because being on the front row is always fundamental and, moreover, it was important to be fast here after last year’s accident – the words of the world champion – Too bad about the yellow flag, I could have taken pole. In the Sprint it will be important to start well and extend, but also to pay attention to the wear of the rear tire.”
Closing out the front row is Brad Binder on his Ktm, while the second is opened by the rookie Pedro Acosta, who could be a bad customer for everyone in the race. Fabio Di Giannantonio celebrated 5th place after a difficult Friday which forced him to drop out of Q1. Jorge Martin, the leader of the standings, however, had to settle for 6th due to a fall at the second corner in his second attack at the time. Curiously, Franco Morbidelli who was following him also made the same mistake and will therefore start 10th.
In the third row there are Raul Fernandez with Aprilia, Alex Rins with Yamaha and Jack Miller with KTM, while Enea Bastianini saw his best lap canceled and found himself 11th, ahead of Maverick Viñales.
They will certainly be two uphill races for Marc Marquez, which failed to reach Q2. In the home race, he will occupy the 14th starting position, behind his brother Alex and ahead of Oliveira’s Aprilia. Qualifying wasn’t good either for Marco Bezzecchi, 16th with Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha and Johann Zarco’s Honda behind him (he crashed at the end of the session). Closing out the field will be Augusto Fernadez’s GasGas and the Hondas of Nakagami, Mir, Marini and Bradl.
The appointment with the sprint race is at 3pm (live on Sky and TV8).
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