Quartararo on pole after Vinales penalised, Marquez withdraws
2020 Andalucia MotoGP - Qualifying Results
Fabio Quartararo has been awarded his second MotoGP pole position on the bounce in Jerez after being reinstated to the top spot when Maverick Vinales’s provisional session-topping effort was cancelled for a track limits infraction.
Vinales looked to have pipped his Yamaha counterpart with a charging 1mm 36.907secs lap late on but a ragged exit at Turn 7 would see him ease onto the green rumble strip, with stewards wasting no time in cancelling the effort and promoting Quartararo.
Though not as quick as his pole-winning lap at the same circuit from a week ago, Quartararo’s 1m 37.007s was still comfortable enough to ultimately deny Vinales.
However, there was disappointment for Marc Marquez after the defending champion pulled in after his warm-up lap without setting a time in Q1. It has now been confirmed that he will not race this weekend.
The impressive Pecco Bagnaia built on last weekend’s run to fourth on the grid by going one better to grab a spot on the front row with the Yamahas, the Italian once again emerging as the best-placed Ducati rider.
With all four Yamahas inside the top six, Valentino Rossi gave glimpses of a potential challenge on Sunday with a strong run to fourth, while Franco Morbidelli made his extra track time from Q1 count to take his Petronas SRT M1 all the way to the second row in sixth.
The same can be said for Miguel Oliveira too, who not only reached Q2 for the first time in his young MotoGP career but proceeded to claim a brilliant fifth for the Tech 3 KTM team. Outqualifying the factory KTM riders who had made Q2 automatically, it marks a vast improvement on his previous best starting position of 13th.
Jack Miller gets underway from seventh position, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami, who flew the flag for Honda in Q2 on his 2019-spec RC213V. The Japanese rider, who topped FP2 and FP4, might have gone quicker but for an off-track excursion at the final corner in the closing stages.
Brad Binder rallied hard early on before fading to ninth, though he fared better than team-mate Pol Espargaro whose crash at Turn 2 leaves him 12th, just behind tenth place Joan Mir and 11th place Danilo Petrucci.
On a day that saw the injured Marquez and also Alex Rins pinned to the bottom of the timesheets, Cal Crutchlow did a stellar job to haul his LCR Honda up to 13th on the grid, the Briton – who had a pin inserted into his wrist only four days ago – just a tenth shy of making Q2.
Indeed, he will take satisfaction from out-qualifying Andrea Dovizioso, last weekend’s podium winner looking unsettled in the hot conditions as he failed to progress beyond Q1 in 14th.
Johann Zarco gets underway from 15th on the grid, ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the best of the Aprilias, Iker Lecuona, Tito Rabat, Bradley Smith and the embattled Rins.
A humbling day for a Marquez family used to celebrating both brothers, Alex compounded the disappointment with a fast crash at Turn 5 in the final seconds, leaving him 21st on the grid and now last in Marc’s absence.
