Jorge Martin takes pole position after busy MotoGP qualifying

FP2

This morning practice is used as a warm-up before the riders head into qualifying. As always, riders immediately took advantage of the good track conditions, with lap times improving quickly during the first few minutes.

The first yellow flag came 2 minutes into the session, as Raul Fernandez's bike stopped working. The rider stopped in the gravel and started to make his way back to the pits.

Meanwhile, the riders chose a qualifying tyre configuration with a medium at the front and a soft at the back. The only exception was Pedro Acosta, who chose both medium tyres.

The lap times started in the 1:33 to 1:34 range. However, 6 minutes into the session, Pedro Acosta's bike also stopped working, and he had to park it with the marshals and run back to his box for his second bike.

The riders on track were improving their times quickly. At the moment, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio who was in the lead and became the first rider to break into the 1:31s. Shortly after, Marco Bezzecchi attacked the lead, moving into first place.

Fabio Quartararo, who didn't have a good Friday, managed to break into the top 10, moving up to 7th place. On the other hand, Ai Ogura, who was a strong contender yesterday, was down in last place. Shortly after, he managed to find improvement and moved up to 4th place.

Alex Marquez, who had a high-side crash yesterday, was luckily without a serious injury and was able to rejoin. He had a good pace, riding in 5th place, while his brother was down in 8th.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, the top 10 looked as follows: Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio, Bagnaia, Ogura, A. Marquez, Morbidelli, Bastianini, M. Marquez, Quartararo, Fernandez.

The riders made their way back to the pits, leaving only a few on the empty track. These riders included Pedro Acosta, who had rejoined on his second bike. Even Jorge Martin was on track, trying to find more pace as he sat in 17th place.

The riders then made their way back onto the track to push for final improvements. Jorge Martin mostly used the empty track to move up to 4th place. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi was improving his time and holding firmly onto the lead. However, Raul Fernandez was attacking his time, but after a slower second sector, he moved into 2nd place.

The order was changing rapidly, and with a little over 3 minutes left, the top 10 looked as follows: Bezzecchi, Fernandez, Ogura, Di Giannantonio, M. Marquez, Acosta, Martin, Bagnaia, A. Marquez, Morbidelli.

Three minutes before the end, Jack Miller lost control of his bike at Turn 9, sliding into the gravel at high speed.

With the chequered flag out, there were no late improvements, as the riders were now focusing on the qualifying session ahead.

Q1

The riders participating in this part of qualifying were: Morbidelli, Mir, Moreira, Quartararo, Vinales, Rins, Marini, Miller, Razgatlioglu, Binder, A. Fernandez, and Crutchlow. As always, the two fastest riders earned promotion to Q2.

The first measured lap times were in the 1:32 to 1:31 range, with Moreira and Morbidelli occupying the advancing positions. Behind the leading duo was Binder in third place. However, Mir was ready to respond and attack the front, which he managed to do by moving into first place.

After a quick stop in the pits, the riders slowly made their way back onto the track. However, a few riders used the empty track to their advantage, including Quartararo, who was attacking 2nd place with his lap. He managed to do so and, even better, found more speed in the final two sectors to move into first place.

However, with barely 2 minutes left, Diogo Moreira lost control of his bike and slid into the gravel, bringing out the yellow flag.

At that point, the order looked as follows: Quartararo, Mir, Moreira, Morbidelli, Binder, Rins, Marini, Miller, A. Fernandez, Razgatlioglu, Vinales, Crutchlow.

Morbidelli tried to respond to the fastest riders but couldn't find enough speed to move to the front. He finished in 3rd place, yet he will drop another 3 positions on Sunday.

The advancing riders were Quartararo and Mir.

Q2

The riders participating in this part of qualifying were: Bezzecchi, R. Fernandez, Acosta, Ogura, Bagnaia, M. Marquez, Di Giannantonio, Bastianini, Martin, A. Marquez, Quartararo, and Mir.

The measured lap times were in the 1:30 to 1:31 range. Marco Bezzecchi became the first rider to break into the 1:30s, taking provisional pole position. The order looked as follows: Bezzecchi, Martin, Acosta, Fernandez, Bagnaia, Bastianini, Di Giannantonio.

Fernandez, ready to respond, found more pace and moved into 2nd place. However, Marc Marquez, who had his lap cancelled due to track limits, could only manage 9th place.

Meanwhile, Bagnaia was unable to improve enough to challenge the front. Jorge Martin found more pace and took provisional pole position from his teammate. With 5 minutes left, Pedro Acosta suffered another technical problem with his bike as he slowly pushed it back into the pits.

With a little over 3 minutes left, the order looked as follows: Martin, Bezzecchi, Fernandez, Bagnaia, Acosta, Ogura, Quartararo, Di Giannantonio, Bastianini, Mir, M. Marquez, A. Marquez.

So far, A. Marquez had not made his way back onto the track, probably due to yesterday's crash. With the riders back on track and ready to fight for further improvements, the final action was underway.

Just as Raul Fernandez responded and took provisional pole position, his lap was cancelled for track limits in the final corner. Meanwhile, Ogura also found improvement, moving into 2nd place. On the other hand, Marc Marquez was unable to put together another strong lap and remained in 7th place.

With the chequered flag out and no late improvements, Jorge Martin safely secured pole position. Behind him finished Ogura in 2nd and Bezzecchi in 3rd. Raul Fernandez finished 4th, making it an Aprilia lockout at the front.