Johann Zarco gains the pole position realizing a record time in front of all his fans: he will kick off first tomorrow followed by Marquez and Petrucci.
Johann Zarco sends all his fans into raptures, with an extraordinary record-setting pole position, his fourth in MotoGP: he’s the first rider to gain this result at home since 1988, when Christian Sarron did the same at Paul Ricard Circuit. Together with him in the front row there will be the World Champion Marc Marquez and also Danilo Petrucci, who did a great performance in Q2 after racing the first round of Qualifying too. Andrea Dovizioso got the 5th place ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, while Movistar Yamaha finished in the last position of the top 10. The race will start at 2 PM on Sunday.
The battle for the pole position immediately fired up in this Q2. Aleix Espargaro fell almost immediately on Turn 3 and his bike had to be removed from riders’ trajectory. In just a few minutes, Zarco managed to destroy Lorenzo’s 2016 record time but both the Majorcan rider and Marquez didn’t give up the fight for the pole position. However, the unstoppable Tech 3 rider, strongly supported by his fans, eventually gained the leading position on the starting grid. Marc Marquez closed 2nd. Danilo Petrucci will also be in the front row ahead of the other Italian riders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso. Jorge Lorenzo will kick off form the 6th place followed by Jack Miller and by Maverick Viñales’ and Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha. The last positions in the ranking belong to Dani Pedrosa, Tito Rabat, and Aleix Espargaro.
Q1 started with Bautista’s fall, while the fight for the first two positions to access the second round of Qualifying was already fierce. Crutchlow finished his Q2 in the worst possible way, with a violent high-side (this was his second fall of the day, after the one during FP4) that left the LCR Honda Castrol rider in intense pain, as he was taken out on a gurney. The first round of Qualifying was ended by a red flag after the accident. Petrucci and Pedrosa gained access to Q2, with rookie Syahrin (4th), followed by Rins and Morbidelli.
Q1 ranking
Q2 ranking
