MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Marc Marquez cruising to back-to-back pole positions will come as no surprise to anyone who has tuned in at any point this weekend (or season) – the championship leader attacking the all-time lap record from his very first lap, eventually dipping into the 1:36s to stretch his advantage to a quarter of a second. Alex Marquez frequently flashed red on the timing screens as well, but it was not enough to bridge that gap and he had to settle for second once more. The actual surprise was behind the Marquez clan, where a Honda joined the front row party – Johann Zarco setting a lap time worthy of third grid position early in the session and holding on until the chequered flag. 

Pecco Bagnaia made a steady start in Q2 but only managed to limit the damage from 8^th up to 4^th place, opening the second row of the grid right behind his teammate’s tail. Pedro Acosta continues to carry the flag for KTM with a 5^th place, while Fabio Di Giannantonio couldn’t quite replicate his achievements from practice, but still secured a solid 6^th grid position. 

Fabio Quartararo's plan to chase Bagnaia around didn't work out this time either, but ultimately it was Binder’s reference that helped him climb into 7^th on the grid, ahead of Q1 leader Franco Morbidelli. The Italian was the clear favourite in Q1 – despite only having one functional bike following his FP2 crash – but he could only climb as high as 8^th, ahead of compatriot Marco Bezzecchi, who looked like he might struggle to replicate his previous achievements in Argentina from the back of the third row. Joan Mir impressed in Q1 before Zarco stole his thunder in Q2, and the Spaniard settled for 10^th place, ahead of Brad Binder and Alex Rins.

Jack Miller was the unfortunate best-of-the-rest in Q1, missing out by seven hundredths of a second and stuck on fifth row. Fermin Aldeguer came out on top in the battle of the rookies, but only narrowly so and helped by a late crash for Ai Ogura at turn 2. The duo complete row five, with Luca Marini opening sixth row ahead of Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez. Somkiat Chantra got relegated to 19^th place after visiting the same gravel trap as pal Ogura, but still outqualified the much more experienced duo of Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini. The nightmare start to their Tech 3 adventure continues, only replacement Lorenzo Savadori behind them on the grid. 

Results: