Luca Marini took MotoGP pole in Qatar GP away from Fabio di Giannantonio by 0.067s, with Alex Marquez in third.
Q1:
The first part in MotoGP qualifying in Qatar GP saw Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco lead the way initially with a 1m53.069s lap with Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli up there with him. KTM’s Jack Miller was third but outside of Q2 ahead of Ducati’s Enea Bastianini.
Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez was fifth from VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi, as LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami had his qualifying hampered due to a fall. The second run saw Zarco set the pace again with a 1m52.382s lap from Marquez in the Top 2.
They made it through to Q2 with Bezzecchi missing out in third to start the Qatar GP in 13th ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. Luck wasn’t with Bastianini whose initial quick lap was interrupted by LCR’s Iker Lecuona and the next one was only good for 15th.
Miller was 16th after his run-in with RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Olievira, with Morbidelli 18th after early good run. GASGAS Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro was 20th ahead of Honda’s Joan Mir and LCR pair of Lecuona and Nakagami.
Q2:
The second part of MotoGP qualifying in Qatar GP saw Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio setting early pace with a 1m52.188s lap ahead of VR46’s Luca Marini and Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who had to abort his initial lap.
He was taking a tow from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, as was Honda’s Marc Marquez from Ducati’s Franceso Bagnaia, who was fifth behind Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. The second run saw di Giannantonio lower his lap time to dip into 1m51s.
But Marini pulled out 1m51.762s to take MotoGP pole in Qatar GP away from di Giannantonio by 0.067s, with Marquez in third. The title contenders Bagnaia and Martin slotted in fourth and fifth, with A Marquez in sixth.
He dropped brother M Marquez to seventh from Vinales, RNF’s Raul Fernandez, Espargaro, KTM’s Brad Binder and Tech 3’s Augusto Fernandez in the Top 12.
Results: https://x.com/MotoGP/status/1725870675582136522?s=20
