Aleix Espargaro delivers sensational maiden MotoGP pole for Aprilia
Espargaro, who dominated Argentina MotoGP practice, had all eyes on him heading into a session that promised so much.
Looking for Aprilia’s first-ever MotoGP pole, Espargaro went top by over three tenths following the initial flurry of laps.
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There were immediate problems for Suzuki as Joan Mir’s #1 bike needed to have its tyres removed and transferred over to his second GSX-RR machine.
The issue involved the bike cutting out which was soon taken care of.
On-track, Vinales momentarily went top before Martin set a new benchmark of 1:34.425s. However, Espargaro soon bettered the Pramac Ducati rider’s effort with a stunning time of 1:38.125s.
While Espargaro set a time that looked unbeatable, Jack Miller became the latest crasher at turn one following a front-end washout.
As the final flying laps began, more handbags started between Quartararo and Miller after the Ducati rider was seen touring on the racing line.
After clashing during the Indonesian Grand Prix, tension will certainly be high between the pair heading into tomorrow’s race.
Miller is likely to be given a penalty due to it costing Quartararo dearly on his lap, while it nearly resulted in contact too.
At the front, Martin, who had three personal best sectors, took over at the front following a brilliant sector four.
The Spaniard gained over three tenths to go fastest by -0.256s, but as was the case throughout the day, Espargaro fought back immediately.
While grip looked high around Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit, both practice sessions saw riders struggling with bike shaking on the exit of turn 11, something that was again on show during qualifying.
Behind the top two, Mooney VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini matched his best ever MotoGP qualifying of third in what was also his first Q2 appearance of the season
Heading off the second row is Pol Espargaro, who like Marini left it late to set his best time, fifth is Maverick Vinales aboard the second Aprilia RS-GP machine. Rounding out the second row is reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo, who was surprisingly six tenths away from pole.
Before Aleix Espargaro's heroics...
For the second weekend in a row qualifying began with factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia needing to go through Q1.
Joining the Italian was championship leader Enea Bastianini who has so far struggled on his first premier class appearance at Termas, while Mandalika race winner Miguel Oliveira, FP1 pacesetter Takaaki Nakagami and impressive rookie Marco Bezzecchi also had to go through Q1.
Flustered come the end of FP2, Q1 began in similar fashion for Bagnaia who returned to pit lane without setting a representative lap.
The Ducati rider once again looked like a shell of the Bagnaia we saw during the final few rounds of 2021, as running wide and bike shaking was becoming more and more of a problem.
But as all great champions do, Bagnaia was able to keep calm, re-focus, and then set a blistering time of 1:38.610s to go three tenths clear.
However, Nakagami and Pol Espargaro had more left to give as they went first and second for Honda.
Bagnaia had one final attempt to break Honda hearts, but the 2021 championship runner-up was unable to do so as Nakagami and Espargaro advanced. That means Bastianini also failed to advance.
The two Ducati riders will start from P13 and P14.
